BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 823 Page 1 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 AB 823 Page 2 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 AB 823 Page 3 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. AB 823 Page 4 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 AB 823 Page 5 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, AB 823 Page 6 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 Page 7 Urban Counties Caucus Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by:Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958