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Okeechobee County commissioners move to tighten public-comment rules, pursue trespass ordinance after disruptions
Summary
After repeated disruptions during public comment, the Okeechobee County Board of County Commissioners directed staff to update speaker procedures, pursue a trespass ordinance with an appeals process, and remove an administrative hurdle for scheduling public hearings; commissioners also voted to close public comment at the meeting.
At a recent meeting of the Okeechobee County Board of County Commissioners, members agreed to update their public-comment procedures, direct staff to draft a trespass ordinance for county facilities and remove an administrative regulation that delayed scheduling public hearings, following a series of disruptions during the meeting's public-comment period.
The county attorney opened the discussion with a legal memorandum outlining the county's authority to regulate decorum in a limited public forum, citing the county's code of ordinances and case law. The attorney said the board's meetings are a "limited public forum" and noted the county's code of ordinances (section 2-18) requires civility and permits the chair to remove disorderly attendees. She described several constitutionally permissible, content-neutral options for the board, including requiring advance registration, changing when non-agenda comments occur, or…
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