BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 823
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
823 (Bigelow)
As Introduced February 26, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
|----------------+------+------------------------+-------------------|
|Local |9-0 |Maienschein, Gonzalez, | |
|Government | |Alejo, Chiu, Cooley, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, Linder, | |
| | |Waldron | |
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SUMMARY: Allows counties to post on their Web sites 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
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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 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 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 Web site 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:
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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 amendment
must be posted in the office of the clerk; and,
Within 15 days after the adoption of the ordinance or
amendment, the board 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
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT: None
COMMENTS:
1)Bill Summary. This bill allows counties to post on their Web
sites 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 five
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 Web site
while offering to furnish a certified copy of the ordinance, if
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requested. This would save time and money in the administrative
office of the county while maintaining open 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 one-fourth 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, need
not be published if the publication lists all those exhibits, by
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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. There is no opposition on file.
Analysis Prepared by:
Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958 FN:
0000121