SB 1187 Repeals Portions of Recent Brown Act Updates
Urgency Statute Takes Effect Immediately, Reversing Language Translation, Interpretation Assistance and Related Requirements for Certain Legislative Bodies
In 2025, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 707 (SB 707), which brought extensive updates to the Ralph M. Brown Act, in hopes of modernizing the law and increasing access and participation in public meetings. However, on September 18, 2026, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 1187 (SB 1187), which immediately repealed several Brown Act provisions that had been added by SB 707.
SB 1187, introduced by Senator Durazo, repeals several recent Brown Act requirements that applied to eligible legislative bodies. For purposes of these requirements, eligible legislative bodies generally include: (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.
As further described below, SB 1187 eliminates requirements for eligible legislative bodies to:
- provide a system for electronically accepting and fulfilling requests for meeting agendas;
- provide assistance to members of the public using translators or interpreters at a meeting; and
- translate meeting agendas into applicable languages and provide a physical space for the public to post translations of the agenda.
Website and Electronic Outreach Changes
- The Brown Act required eligible legislative bodies to take specific actions to encourage residents to participate in public meetings, including: Providing a system for electronically accepting and fulfilling requests for meeting agendas; and
- Having 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 translating such webpage, if required.
SB 1187 removes these requirements from the Brown Act. However, eligible legislative bodies are still required to make reasonable efforts to invite groups that do not traditionally participate in public meetings, such as outreach to media organizations serving non-English-speaking communities or civic engagement organizations. Eligible legislative bodies continue to have broad discretion in how to implement these efforts.
Assistance with Translation or Interpretation at Meetings
Previously, an eligible legislative body was required to reasonably assist members of the public who wished to translate a public meeting or receive interpretation. This included:
- Arranging space for interpreters at the meeting location;
- Allowing extra time during meetings for interpretation; and
- Allowing individuals to use personal equipment for interpretation.
Now, eligible legislative bodies are no longer required to provide any of these services or assist in interpretation of public meetings to comply with the Brown Act. However, all legislative bodies should note that removal of these requirements under the Brown Act does not override or negate any accessibility obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or similar state laws. Further, the Brown Act continues to require that legislative bodies provide at least twice the allotted time to non-English speakers using a translator to provide public comments.
Translation of Agendas & Providing Physical Space for Translated Agendas
In addition, eligible legislative bodies were required to:
- 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; and
- 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.
Under SB 1187, these provisions are repealed and no longer apply.
Enactment & Practical Considerations
The Legislature enacted SB 1187 as an urgency statute, which allows the law to take effect immediately. Accordingly, eligible legislative bodies are no longer subject to the abovementioned requirements. Agencies that adopted or revised policies, procedures or other standards to comply with the now-repealed provisions should consider whether to repeal or further revise those policies or standards.
For more information on the impact of these changes and how to best implement them in your jurisdiction, please contact Nicholaus Norvell, Frank Splendorio, and Elleasse Taylor.
