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Bill would extend audio/video posting rules to more towns; League warns of implementation burden
Summary
House Bill 393 would apply audio/posting requirements to additional towns and clarifies retention and effective-date options; the League of Cities and Towns said staffing and IT capacity in small towns makes the current 5-day posting requirement difficult without amendments.
Representative Brad Barker introduced House Bill 393 as a follow-up to prior transparency measures enacted last session. He outlined two earlier laws — one requiring public agendas (citing HB 724) and another requiring audio or video recording and posting for many local entities (HB 890) — and said HB 393 adds a category of towns to the audio-posting requirement while offering a 14-day option for smaller entities where needed.
Thomas Joden, legal services director for the Montana League of Cities and Towns, said the League “lightly oppose[d]” the bill as drafted because many small towns and part-time clerks lack the staff and IT capacity to meet a five-business-day posting requirement; he noted the League represents roughly 73 towns under 1,000 population and 35 under 300. Joden said the League would support a narrowly targeted amendment (identified in testimony as 0.001) to address those practical concerns.
Committee members asked whether the bill would capture subcommittees or unnotified citizen committees; the sponsor said the intent is to capture noticed public meetings where votes are expected and not smaller study committees. Members also asked about retention and whether posted audio/videos would be considered the official record; the sponsor said recordings need not be the official record and that a one-year minimum retention is a cost-based compromise, with communities allowed to keep recordings longer.
Representatives discussed effective dates and implementation timing; staff noted that absent a specified effective date the default is Oct. 1 of the session year, and the sponsor said January (of the following year) could be an appropriate delayed implementation to allow towns time to comply. The hearing concluded with questions about technical support and possible League assistance to bundle services for small governments; no committee vote was taken during the hearing.
