Public Access to government meetings
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California law doesn’t exactly ban
deal-making by politicians in smoke-filled
rooms, but it comes close to doing that at
the local level (under the Brown Act) and
among state agencies (under the Bagley-Keene
Act). The fundamental idea behind these statutes
is that the full process of political deliberating
and decisionmaking---justly likened to the
making of sausage---should be conducted in
the open, in public meetings for all to see.
Although the laws allow for certain matters
to be considered in “executive session,” they
are the rare exception (in theory, at any
rate).
The Ralph M. Brown Act
The Brown Act requires governing and other bodies of local government agencies---for example, city councils and school boards--- to conduct business in a way that enables the public to scrutinize and, to a slightly lesser extent, participate in, government decisions, actions and policy choices. The Brown Act covers all aspects of local government deliberation, from agenda-posting and meeting requirements to the attorney-client privilege and settlement of lawsuits.
- Brown Act text
- CFAC’s primer on the Brown Act
- Frequently Asked Questions About the Brown Act
- California Attorney General's Guide to the Brown Act
- CFAC’s video podcast on the Brown Act
- Template for Brown Act complaint
In addition to these sources, we recommend you use CFAC’s Asked & Answered feature, a searchable database of our lawyers’ answers to questions from folks like you.
The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act
Bagley-Keene is the open meeting law covering state agencies in California. It is, by design, very similar to the Brown Act. When applying Bagley-Keene, it is a good idea to consider court decisions and other authorities interpreting analogous provisions of the Brown Act.
In addition to these sources, we recommend you use CFAC’s Asked & Answered feature to pose questions about Bagley-Keene.
