BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 823
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Date of Hearing: April 8, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Brian Maienschein, Chair
AB 823
(Bigelow) - As Introduced February 26, 2015
SUBJECT: Counties: ordinances.
SUMMARY: Allows counties to post on their websites proposed and
adopted ordinances as an alternative to posting a copy of the
full text of the ordinance in the office of the clerk of the
board of supervisors. Specifically, this bill:
1)Removes a requirement that a copy of the full text of proposed
ordinances, proposed amendments to existing ordinances,
adopted ordinances and adopted amendments to existing
ordinances be posted in the office of the clerk (clerk) of the
board of supervisors (board).
2)Requires, instead, a certified copy of the full text of a
proposed ordinance or proposed amendment to be made available
to the public upon request by the clerk at least five days
prior to the board meeting at which the proposed ordinance or
amendment or alteration thereto is to be adopted. The clerk
also shall either post a copy of the full text of the
ordinance or amendment on the county's Internet Web site
(website) or post a certified copy of the full text in the
office of the clerk five days prior to the board meeting at
which the proposed ordinance or amendment or alteration is to
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be adopted.
3)Requires, within 15 days after adoption of an ordinance or
amendment, the clerk to make available to the public, upon
request, a certified copy of the full text of the adopted
ordinance or amendment along with the names of those
supervisors voting for and against the ordinance or amendment.
The clerk shall also either post a copy of the full text of
the ordinance or amendment and the names of those supervisors
voting for and against the ordinance or amendment on the
county's website or shall post in the office of the clerk a
certified copy of the full text of the adopted ordinance or
amendment along with the vote information specified in this
paragraph.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires a county board, before the expiration of 15 days
after the passage of an ordinance by the board, to publish the
ordinance with the names of those members voting for and
against the ordinance, in a newspaper published in the county,
if there is one. If there is no newspaper published in the
county, the ordinance must be posted in a prominent location
at the board's chambers within the 15-day period and remain
posted thereafter for at least one week.
2)Allows the publication requirement specified above to be
satisfied by either of the following procedures:
a) At least five days prior to the board meeting at which
the proposed ordinance or amendment is to be adopted, a
summary of the proposed ordinance or proposed amendment to
an existing ordinance must be published and a certified
copy of the full text of the proposed ordinance or proposed
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amendment must be posted in the office of the clerk; and,
Within 15 days after the adoption of the ordinance or
amendment, the board of supervisors must publish a summary
of the ordinance or amendment with the names of those
supervisors voting for and against the ordinance or
amendment, and the clerk must post in his or her office a
certified copy of the full text of the adopted ordinance or
amendment along with the names of those supervisors voting
for and against the ordinance or amendment; or,
b) If a county official designated by the board determines
that it is not feasible to prepare a fair and adequate
summary of the proposed or adopted ordinance or amendment,
and if the board so orders, a display advertisement of at
least one-quarter of a page in a newspaper of general
circulation in the county shall be published at least five
days prior to the board meeting at which the proposed
ordinance or amendment or alteration thereto is to be
adopted; and,
Within 15 days after adoption of the ordinance or
amendment, a display advertisement
of at least one-quarter of a page shall be published. The
advertisement shall indicate the general nature of, and
provide information about, the proposed or adopted
ordinance or amendment, including information sufficient to
enable the public to obtain copies of the complete text of
such ordinance or amendment, and the names of those
supervisors voting for and against the ordinance or
amendment.
3)Provides that, if the clerk fails to publish an ordinance
within 15 days after the date of adoption, the ordinance shall
not take effect until 30 days after the date of publication.
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FISCAL EFFECT: None
COMMENTS:
1)Bill Summary. This bill allows counties to post on their
websites proposed and adopted ordinances as an alternative to
posting a copy of the full text of the ordinance in the office
of the clerk of the board. This bill is sponsored by the
California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials.
2)Author's Statement. According to the author, "AB 823 will
eliminate a potentially unnecessary requirement to post the
certified copy of full text of proposed ordinances 5 days
prior to the vote of the Board of Supervisors and instead
would require the county to post the ordinance online or
provide a copy of the language of the ordinance upon request.
Current law requires clerks to physically post a certified
copy of the full text of a proposed ordinance in the office of
the clerk 5 days prior to the vote of the Board of Supervisors
and also requires the clerk to post a certified copy of the
approved ordinance in the office of the clerk after the vote.
"According to clerks statewide, the members of the public
rarely, if ever, are observed in the office of the clerk to
review the posted language. As an alternative, the clerks
propose to post the ordinance on the county's internet website
while offering to furnish a certified copy of the ordinance,
if requested. This would save time and money in the
administrative office of the county while maintaining open
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access to the public for requested public information and
would allow the clerk to make the information available using
more modern technology."
3)Background. State law requires, with certain exceptions, that
county ordinances be published once in a newspaper in the
county within 15 days of passage and become effective within
30 days of final passage. Ordinances not published within the
15 day time frame do not become effective until 30 days after
publication.
Instead of publishing the entire ordinance, supervisors can
publish a summary or a 1/4 display ad of the ordinance, as
long as the ordinance's full text is posted and available at
the office of the clerk of the board.
This bill removes the requirement that a certified copy of the
full text of a proposed or adopted ordinance be posted in the
clerk's office and, instead, allows counties to choose to
continue posting in this manner or to post the full text
online.
4)Previous Legislation. AB 390 (Conroy, et al.), Chapter 23,
Statutes of 1995, provided that any exhibit attached to and
incorporated by reference in an ordinance, except for maps,
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need not be published if the publication lists all those
exhibits, by title or description, and notes that a complete
copy of each exhibit is on file with the clerk of the board of
supervisors and is available for viewing and copying in
accordance with the California Public Records Act.
5)Arguments in Support. The California Association of Clerks
and Elections Officials, sponsor of this bill, states, "The
mandated procedure to print and post the text of the
ordinances each week is often unnecessary and could be
modified in lieu of a more responsive, updated and customized
approach?(AB 823) will allow local governments to tailor their
mandated services with respect to providing public access to
proposed and adopted county ordinances based on technology and
the requests of their constituents."
6)Arguments in Opposition. None on file.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials
[SPONSOR]
California State Association of Counties
Rural County Representatives of California
AB 823
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Urban Counties Caucus
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958