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Local candidate draws attention to new state open‑meetings rule during public comment

Giles County Commission · April 21, 2026

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Summary

Steve Woods, a candidate for District 5, used public comment time to highlight a state open-meetings law effective March 26 that he said requires governing bodies to reserve a public-comment period; commissioners agreed to have the legislative committee review local rules for compliance.

During the meeting’s public-comment period, Steve Woods, who identified himself as a candidate for District 5 commissioner, asked the board to note a recently enacted state law requiring a reserved public-comment period.

"I'm Steve Woods, and I'm a candidate for district 5 commissioner," Woods said before reading a brief synopsis of the law, which he said took effect March 26 and requires local governing bodies subject to open‑meetings statutes to reserve public-comment time.

Commissioners acknowledged the change and scheduled their legislative committee to review local public-comment rules to ensure compliance with state law. A tentative legislative committee meeting date of May 1 was mentioned for that review.

The discussion was procedural; commissioners did not take immediate policy action during the meeting but instructed the legislative committee to examine rule changes to bring the county into compliance.