Assembly Bill No. 225–Assemblymen Freeman, Anderson, Gibbons, Williams, Chowning, Arberry, Bache, Beers, Berman, Buckley, Collins, Giunchigliani, Goldwater, Humke, Lee, Leslie, Manendo, Nolan, Parks, Parnell, Price, Smith and Tiffany

 

Joint Sponsors: Senators Rawson, Schneider, Neal, O’Connell, Townsend, Amodei, Mathews and Shaffer

 

CHAPTER..........

 

AN ACT relating to meetings of public bodies; requiring a public body to give written notice to person against whom the public body is considering taking administrative action or property by eminent domain; revising the definition of “meeting” to include and exclude certain gatherings of members of a public body; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

   Section 1. Chapter 241 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a

 new section to read as follows:

   1.  A public body shall not consider at a meeting whether to:

   (a) Take administrative action against a person; or

   (b) Acquire real property owned by a person by the exercise of the

 power of eminent domain,

unless the public body has given written notice to that person of the time

 and place of the meeting.

   2.  The written notice required pursuant to subsection 1 must be:

   (a) Delivered personally to that person at least 5 working days before

 the meeting; or

   (b) Sent by certified mail to the last known address of that person at

 least 21 working days before the meeting.

A public body must receive proof of service of the written notice provided

 to a person pursuant to this section before the public body may consider

 a matter set forth in subsection 1 relating to that person at a meeting.

   3.  The written notice provided in this section is in addition to the

 notice of the meeting provided pursuant to NRS 241.020.

   Sec. 2.  NRS 241.015 is hereby amended to read as follows:

   241.015  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

   1.  “Action” means:

   (a) A decision made by a majority of the members present during a

 meeting of a public body;

   (b) A commitment or promise made by a majority of the members

 present during a meeting of a public body;

   (c) If a public body may have a member who is not an elected official,

 an affirmative vote taken by a majority of the members present during a

 meeting of the public body; or

   (d) If all the members of a public body must be elected officials, an

 affirmative vote taken by a majority of all the members of the public body.

   2.  “Meeting” [means the] :

   (a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b), means:

     (1) The gathering of members of a public body at which a quorum is

 present to deliberate toward a decision or to take action on any matter over

which the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory

power.

     (2) Any series of gatherings of members of a public body at which:

        (I) Less than a quorum is present at any individual gathering;

        (II) The members of the public body attending one or more of the

 gatherings collectively constitute a quorum; and

        (III) The series of gatherings was held with the specific intent to

 avoid the provisions of this chapter.

   (b) Does not include a gathering or series of gatherings of members of

 a public body, as described in paragraph (a), at which a quorum is

 actually or collectively present:

     (1) Which occurs at a social function if the members do not

 deliberate toward a decision or take action on any matter over which the

 public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power.

     (2) To receive information from the attorney employed or retained

 by the public body regarding potential or existing litigation involving a

 matter over which the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction

 or advisory power and to deliberate toward a decision on the matter, or

 both.

   3.  Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, “public body”

 means any administrative, advisory, executive or legislative body of the

 state or a local government which expends or disburses or is supported in

 whole or in part by tax revenue or which advises or makes

 recommendations to any entity which expends or disburses or is supported

 in whole or in part by tax revenue, including, but not limited to, any board,

 commission, committee, subcommittee or other subsidiary thereof and

 includes an educational foundation as defined in subsection 3 of NRS

 388.750 and a university foundation as defined in subsection 3 of NRS

 396.405. “Public body” does not include the legislature of the State of

 Nevada.

   4.  “Quorum” means a simple majority of the constituent membership

 of a public body or another proportion established by law.

 

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