A bill moving through the Georgia legislature would require school boards to broadcast public comment periods the same way they broadcast the rest of their meetings.
What’s Happening: House Bill 989 would ban school boards from excluding public comments from webcasts or recordings of meetings. The bill requires boards to record or broadcast public comment periods “in the same manner and to the same extent” as the rest of public meetings.
What Changed: The bill responds to Cobb County’s decision last year to stop broadcasting public comments during school board meetings. Cobb County cited potential liability for removing the comments from webcasts. Opponents said the decision violated the First Amendment.
The Rule: Under current Georgia law, school boards must hold monthly public meetings and provide time for public comment. The law requires boards to allow visual and sound recording of meetings, including webcasting. But the law doesn’t explicitly require boards to include public comments in their own broadcasts or recordings.
What the Bill Does:
• Requires boards to broadcast or record public comments the same way they broadcast or record the rest of meetings
• Allows boards to limit how long people can speak and how many people can speak on one topic
• Bans boards from requiring more than 24 hours notice before someone can speak
• Requires boards to list public comment periods on meeting agendas
The First Amendment Question: Government transparency laws and the First Amendment protect the public’s right to attend and record government meetings. Courts have ruled that public comment at government meetings is a form of protected speech. When a government body holds a public meeting, it creates a public forum where citizens can address their elected officials.
What’s Important: The bill requires equal treatment of all parts of public meetings that boards choose to broadcast. It prohibits school boards from separating public comments so that members of the public cannot be privy to what their neighbors are saying about an issue.
The Path Forward: Critics say the bill is a good first step, but doesn’t go far enough. First Amendment advocates want all government meetings to be required to be broadcast or livestreamed. If the bill passes, school boards that webcast meetings would no longer be able to exclude public comments from those webcasts.
