Major Brown Act Updates Under SB 707
New Law Represents the Most Significant Update to the Brown Act in Decades
On October 3, 2025, Senate Bill 707 (SB 707) was signed by Governor Newsom and will bring significant changes to many public agencies’ meetings starting in 2026. SB 707 is intended to diversify and increase public engagement in local government, and also modernize the Ralph M. Brown Act in the face of technological advancements.
SB 707 amends numerous provisions of the Brown Act and places new restrictions, expectations and duties upon legislative bodies. The changes are best understood in terms of what only applies to “eligible legislative bodies” versus what generally applies to all legislative bodies.
Rules Specific to Eligible Legislative Bodies
The most significant changes in SB 707 will apply to an “eligible legislative body” which is defined as any of the following: (1) a city council of a city with a population of 30,000 or more, (2) a board of supervisors of a county, or a city and county, with a population of 30,000 or more, (3) a city council of a city located in a county with a population of 600,000 or more, and (4) a board of directors of large special districts meeting certain thresholds based on boundary areas, population, number of employees and/or revenues.
- Two-Way Remote Attendance and Disruption Procedures
Unlike earlier versions of the Brown Act, the new law now requires eligible legislative bodies to offer hybrid meetings. This means the public must be able to participate through a two-way phone or video platform, unless the technology is not available at the meeting location or the meeting qualifies for an exemption, such as an off-site tour.
On or before July 1, 2026, an eligible legislative body must also approve in an open session a policy regarding disruption of the above-mentioned services or platform and efforts to restore service. If a disruption prevents the public from attending a meeting, the body must take a recess and try to restore service for at least one hour. Afterward, it must adopt a finding by roll call vote confirming that good-faith efforts were made to fix the issue and that resuming the meeting serves the public interest more than delaying it further.
Furthermore, this bill allows a legislative body or its presiding officer to also remove or limit participation from individuals engaging in disruptive behavior, regardless of whether the individual is attending in-person or via two-way audiovisual or telephonic services.
- Outreach
This bill will now require eligible legislative bodies to take specific actions to encourage residents to participate in public meetings, including:
- Provide a system for electronically accepting and fulfilling requests for meeting agendas;
- Have an accessible internet webpage dedicated to information concerning public meetings and how members of the public may participate, including a link to the page on the agency’s home page; and
- Make reasonable efforts to invite groups that do not traditionally participate in public meetings to attend those meetings, such as outreach to media organizations serving non-English-speaking communities or civic engagement organizations. The legislative body has broad discretion to implement these efforts.
- Language Translation and Interpretation
Eligible legislative bodies must also:
- Translate the agenda and instructions on how to participate in meetings into any language spoken jointly by 20 percent or more of an applicable population that also speaks English less than “very well” according to the American Community Survey;
- Provide reasonable assistance to members of the public who wish to use personal interpreters, such as arranging space for interpreters and allowing extra time for interpretation;
- The new webpage requirements for webpages dedicated to information concerning public meetings must be translated into any language spoken jointly by 20 percent or more of an applicable population that also speaks English less than “very well” according to the American Community Survey;
- Make a physical location, within reasonable proximity to the location where the agenda is posted, freely accessible to the public so the public may post additional translations of that agenda
Rules Applicable to Legislative Bodies in General
While the rules above apply to eligible legislative bodies, the following rules apply to legislative bodies more broadly and generally.
• Teleconferencing Updates
SB 707 reorganizes and expands the teleconferencing provisions of the Brown Act, adding some uniformity to noticing, disclosure, accessibility, and public comment requirements for certain types of teleconferencing. For example, SB 707 revises and restates the existing teleconferencing provisions for states of emergency, just cause, and emergency circumstances, and expands coverage to include: (1) states of emergency declared by localities, and (2) just cause allowances, including physical or family medical emergencies preventing in-person attendance and military service. The new law also continues the availability of teleconferencing for neighborhood councils, student body community college associations, and student-run community college organizations.
In addition, SB 707 would allow agencies to permit attendance by a member of the legislative body via teleconferencing as a reasonable accommodation under applicable law, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Those attending in accordance with this section must still disclose any present adults and their relationship to them and participate via audio and camera, unless their disability prevents such.
The new law also authorizes remote teleconference meetings by “eligible subsidiary bodies” of local agencies, as long as the subsidiary bodies comply with certain requirements. This compliance is defined as having at least one physical location for the meeting, requiring that members attending remotely appear on camera and requiring the legislative body that created the subsidiary body to make certain findings prior to authorizing fully remote meetings and at least every six months thereafter. Under SB 707, an “eligible subsidiary body” includes only advisory bodies that cannot take certain final actions and do not have primary subject matter jurisdiction on elections, budgets, police oversight, privacy, library material restrictions, or taxing or spending proposals.
Similarly, SB 707 allows remote teleconference meetings by “eligible multijurisdictional bodies” if certain requirements are met, including at least a quorum of the body participating from one or more physical locations that are open to the public and that members who participate remotely do not receive compensation for attendance. There are also limits on the number of times a member may participate remotely. Under the law, an “eligible multijurisdictional body” means a legislative body that includes representatives from more than one local agency, or a legislative body of a joint powers agency.
Finally, SB 707 clarifies that the term “teleconference” does not apply where one or more members of a legislative body only watch or listen to a meeting via webcasting, without the ability to interactively speak and discuss.
• Other Changes
Copies of the Brown Act: Existing law encourages agencies to provide copies of the Brown Act to each member of a legislative body. SB 707 will now require agencies to provide a copy of the Brown Act to any person elected or appointed as a member of a legislative body.
Harsher Restrictions: Removes a requirement that members of an appointed legislative body must be appointed by or under the authority of the elected legislative body in order for the legislative body to impose harsher open and public meeting requirements.
Special & Emergency Meetings: Removes a requirement that only specified legislative bodies must comply with the internet website posting and notice requirements for special or emergency meetings, and thus imposes the same posting and notice requirements on all legislative bodies.
Extends the Social Media Rules Indefinitely: Existing law permits a member engaging in separate conversations or communications outside of a meeting with any other person using an internet-based social media platform for specified purposes. However, this is provided that the majority of members do not use the platform to discuss business of a specific nature that falls within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body. This bill makes this exception indefinite.
Notably, some other updates or changes enacted by SB 707 do not actually alter the substance of the law, but simply move and regroup the information into a more readable and trackable format within the Brown Act. These changes were intended to address common complaints and overall feedback on the organization of the Brown Act.
Please note that most updates to the Brown Act under SB 707 will become effective on January 1, 2026, while those specifically applying to eligible legislative bodies will take effect on July 1, 2026. Further, some provisions of SB 707 will expire on January 1, 2030, unless later extended by the Legislature.
There are more details about the bill that cannot be summarized in this alert, please feel free to reach out to Nicholaus Norvell, Frank Splendorio, Jeff Ballinger, and Elleasse Taylor for more information on preparing for and implementing these changes.
Disclaimer: BBK Legal Alerts are not intended as legal advice. Additional facts, facts specific to your situation, or future developments may affect subjects contained herein. Seek the advice of an attorney before acting or relying upon any information herein.
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