In response to the Court of Criminal Appeals striking down the “walking quorum” provision of the Texas Open Meetings Act, the legislature enacted SB 1640. The bill amends Government Code § 551.143. The new provision reads as follows:

(a) A member of a governmental body commits an offense if the member:

(1) knowingly engages in at least one communication among a series of communications that each occur outside of a meeting authorized by this chapter and that concern an issue within the jurisdiction of the governmental body in which the members engaging in the individual communications constitute fewer than a quorum of members but the members engaging in the series of communications constitute a quorum of members; and

(2) knew at the time the member engaged in the communication that the series of communications:

(A) involved or would involve a quorum; and

(B) would constitute a deliberation once a quorum of members engaged in the series of communications.

An offense committed under § 551.143 is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500, confinement in the county jail for not less than one month or more than six months, or both the fine and the confinement.

For questions relating to the Texas Open Meetings Act, government transparency, or the most recent legislative session, contact your district’s legal counsel.

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