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City amends open‑meetings and records code to align with Missouri Sunshine Law
Summary
An ordinance to amend Chapter 120 to mirror state Sunshine Law provisions was advanced for a second reading; staff said the change prevents the city having to reword its ordinance for each statutory amendment and clarifies closure options under Section 610.021, RSMo.
The Board of Aldermen moved an ordinance to a second reading that amends Chapter 120 (Open Meetings and Records) of the city code to align more closely with changes in the Missouri Sunshine Law.
City staff said the amended wording adopts statutory language so the city will not have to update its local ordinance every time the state amends the law. Staff explained the change preserves the board’s ability to open records that state law would otherwise allow to be closed, but it does not allow the board to close records simply by relying on state text unless the city explicitly adopts that closure choice in its ordinance. Staff cited Section 610.021 (as referenced in the meeting) while explaining which categories of records may be closed under state law and the limits of an automatic adoption approach.
A motion was made for a second reading of the ordinance; aldermen recorded affirmative votes for the second read. The ordinance was read aloud a second time during the meeting and advanced per formal procedure. No final adoption on second and final reading occurred at the meeting; the board took the procedural step to continue the ordinance process.
The change is intended to keep the city code consistent with state statutory choices on open records and to reduce the need for repeated local ordinance edits when state law changes.
