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Senate Bill S1490

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Allows open meetings to be photographed, broadcast and recorded by audio or video means subject to reasonable rules

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

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2009-S1490 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:
A1045
Current Committee:
Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:
Public Officers Law
Laws Affected:
Amd ยง103, Pub Off L

2009-S1490 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Allows open meetings to be photographed, broadcast and recorded by audio or video means subject to reasonable rules governing the location of equipment and personnel.

2009-S1490 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2009-S1490 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  1490

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            February 2, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sens.  DeFRANCISCO, GOLDEN, GRIFFO, SEWARD -- read twice
  and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee
  on Investigations and Government Operations

AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to open meetings of
  public bodies

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Legislative findings. It is the policy of this state that
all public business "be performed in an open and public manner and  that
the  citizens  of  this  state  be  fully  aware and able to observe the
performance of public officials and attend and listen  to  the  deliber-
ations  and decisions that go into the making of public policy". (Public
Officers Law, S 100) However, because most citizens are unable to attend
first-hand the meetings of public bodies, they  rely  upon  the  printed
press  and  broadcast  media  to  act  as their agent in seeking out and
communicating these events.  Advances in technology now  allow  meetings
to  be  photographed, broadcast and recorded in a non-disruptive manner,
and these advances should be utilized to give effect to  the  policy  of
open and public governmental proceedings.
  S 2. Section 103 of the public officers law is amended by adding a new
subdivision (d) to read as follows:
  (D)  1.  ANY MEETING OF A PUBLIC BODY THAT IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC SHALL
BE OPEN TO BEING PHOTOGRAPHED, BROADCAST OR RECORDED BY AUDIO  OR  VIDEO
MEANS. AS USED HEREIN THE TERM "BROADCAST" SHALL ALSO INCLUDE THE TRANS-
MISSION OF SIGNALS BY CABLE.
  2.  A PUBLIC BODY MAY ADOPT RULES REASONABLY GOVERNING THE LOCATION OF
EQUIPMENT AND PERSONNEL USED TO PHOTOGRAPH, BROADCAST OR RECORD A  MEET-
ING SO AS TO CONDUCT ITS PROCEEDINGS IN AN ORDERLY MANNER.
  S  3.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
have become a law.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD03448-01-9

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