CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
DATE: JUNE 10, 2026 BUSINESS & LEGISLATIVE
SUBJECT: DISCUSS AND PROVIDE DIRECTION TO STAFF REGARDING
TELECONFERENCING PURSUANT TO RECENT BROWN ACT
AMENDMENTS (SENATE BILL 707)
FROM: Scott C. Stiles, City Manager
BY: Brenda Pree, City Clerk
SUMMARY:
On October 3, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 707, amending the Ralph M. Brown Act. Senate Bill (SB) 707 made sweeping changes to the Brown Act.
One of the areas that SB 707 modified is the provision governing teleconferencing by members of local legislative bodies. This agenda item provides an explanation of those changes and provides the City Council with an opportunity to discuss and consider whether, and to what extent, it wishes to implement changes to the way members of the City Council and various City Boards, Commissions, and Committees teleconference into public meetings.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council consider and provide direction as to whether, and to what extent, the City Council wishes to have meetings of the City Council and various City Boards, Commissions, and Committees conducted by teleconferencing for meetings, including standing committees, under recent amendments to the Ralph M. Brown Act.
BACKGROUND:
In 1988, the California Legislature first adopted provisions allowing for teleconferencing under the Brown Act. Since 2020, the Legislature has greatly expanded teleconferencing provisions, first under AB 361 (teleconferencing during declared emergencies) and then under AB 2449 (teleconferencing for “just cause” or personal medical emergency reasons). Following the Legislature’s adoption of AB 2449, effective January 1, 2023, the City Council opted to continue with the relaxed teleconferencing rules established by AB 361. On December 14, 2023, the City Council opted to adopt the pre-COVID teleconferencing rules, and continued allowing remote participation for City staff, consultants, the public, or third parties with items on the agenda.
City Council Staff Report
June 10, 2026 -- Page 2
Teleconferencing Pursuant to Recent Brown Act Amendments (Senate Bill 707) STAFF ANALYSIS:
SB 707 largely maintains the existing teleconferencing options for legislative body members but reorganizes the provisions and adds new teleconferencing options under certain circumstances.
1. “Classic” Brown Act Teleconferencing Remains the Same The “classic” Brown Act teleconferencing rules that predate COVID-19 remain the same. Under the classic Brown Act teleconferencing rules, legislative body members can teleconference as long as:
(1) the agenda is posted at all meeting locations, including the teleconference locations;
(2) the agenda identifies the teleconference locations; (3) the public can attend and provide public comment from all meeting locations, including the teleconference locations;
(4) at least a quorum of the body participates from within the agency’s jurisdiction; and
(5) all votes are taken by roll call.
2. Teleconferencing as a Reasonable Accommodation for a “Disability” Under SB 707, the Brown Act now allows a member of a legislative body with a disability to participate in a meeting by remote participation as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or similar State laws. Such participation is subject to the following requirements:
(1) the member must participate through both audio and visual technology, unless a physical condition related to their disability results in a need to participate without video; and
(2) before any action is taken, the member must disclose whether anyone 18 or older is in the room with them and the general nature of their relationship to that person.
This type of participation is treated like in-person participation, including for quorum purposes, and other teleconferencing requirements/limitations under the Brown Act do not apply.
3. Alternative Teleconferencing Rules
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, in recent years the California Legislature authorized new options for teleconferencing that do not have the same requirements as classic Brown Act teleconferencing (e.g., listing the teleconference location on the agenda, posting at the teleconference location, etc.). These options started with City Council Staff Report
June 10, 2026 -- Page 3
Teleconferencing Pursuant to Recent Brown Act Amendments (Senate Bill 707) teleconferencing during declared emergencies under AB 361, and later included teleconferencing for “just cause” or personal medical emergencies under AB 2449.
Now, under SB 707, the California Legislature has revised and restated all of these “alternative” teleconferencing provisions and added new alternative teleconferencing options for specific types of bodies or agencies. Following that same structure, this Staff Report will first summarize the general rules that apply to all of these alternative teleconferencing options, and the following sections will describe the specific type of alternative teleconferencing and its related rules. a) Requirements That Apply to All Alternative Teleconferencing Options The following requirements apply to all alternative teleconferencing options:
The public must be able to participate via teleconference, using either a two-way audiovisual platform (like Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, etc.) or a two-way telephonic service and live webcasting.
The city must notify the public of how to access and provide public comment for the meeting, including through the phone or internet option. If a disruption prevents broadcasting of the meeting, or if a disruption within a public meeting affects the ability to provide public comments, the city can take no further action until the disruption is fixed. Comments cannot be required to be submitted in advance; there must be an opportunity to provide comments in real time.
The body must allow a reasonable time for members of the public to request to speak or otherwise be recognized to provide comments. The meeting minutes must state the names of members who attended via teleconference and the alternative teleconferencing provision under which they participated. This is a new requirement.
Bodies must have and implement procedures for receiving and resolving requests for reasonable accommodation for disabilities. Agendas must include notice of the procedure for receiving and resolving requests. Before any action is taken, any member of the legislative body who is teleconferencing under these provisions must identify whether there is anyone 18 or over in the room with them and their relationship to that person.
The City must identify and provide a list of potential meeting locations to their legislative bodies for conducting meetings.
The following subsections describe specific types of alternative teleconferencing that a legislative body may use, if applicable.
b) Just Cause.
This section continues the type of teleconferencing authorized under AB 2449, which could be used when a legislative body member had “just cause” or a personal medical emergency.
City Council Staff Report
June 10, 2026 -- Page 4
Teleconferencing Pursuant to Recent Brown Act Amendments (Senate Bill 707) Under SB 707, the requirements are largely similar to the prior just cause teleconferencing, and the personal medical emergency aspect has been absorbed into the definition of “just cause.”
Under SB 707, the definition of “just cause” now means:
(1) childcare or caregiving need of a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner that requires them to participate remotely;
(2) a contagious illness that prevents a member from attending in person; (3) a need related to a physical or mental condition that is not subject to a reasonable accommodation under the Brown Act, as referenced above; (4) travel while on official business of the legislative body or another state or local agency;
(5) an immunocompromised child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner of the member that requires the member to participate remotely;
(6) a physical or family medical emergency that prevents a member from attending in person; and
(7) military service obligations that result in a member being unable to attend in person because they are serving under official written orders for active duty, drill, annual training, or any other duty required as a member of the California National Guard or a United States Military Reserve organization that requires the member to be at least 50 miles outside the boundaries of the local agency.
The requirements specific to this type of teleconferencing include:
a quorum of the body must participate in person from a single physical location within the agency’s boundaries;
the member who needs to teleconference must notify the body at the earliest convenience (including the start of the meeting) of their need to participate for just cause, including a general description of the circumstances justifying remote participation;
the member must use both audio and visual technology (camera on) during the meeting; and
the minutes must identify the specific just cause basis the member used to teleconference.
The limits for “just cause” teleconferencing have been simplified as follows:
(1) two meetings per year, if the legislative body regularly meets once per month or less;
(2) five meetings per year, if the legislative body regularly meets twice per month; or
(3) seven meetings per year, if the legislative body regularly meets three or more times per month.
City Council Staff Report
June 10, 2026 -- Page 5
Teleconferencing Pursuant to Recent Brown Act Amendments (Senate Bill 707) c) Proclaimed State or Local Emergencies.
This section authorizes teleconferencing (including fully remote meetings) during a proclaimed state of emergency or local emergency, if the requirements of the section are met.
The requirements are largely similar to emergency teleconferencing provisions adopted under AB 361, which many agencies used to hold fully remote or hybrid meetings during the proclaimed COVID-19 state of emergency. Such requirements include:
(1) a majority-vote finding that, due to the emergency, meeting in person would present imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees; and (2) periodic renewal of the findings every 45 days.
Under AB 361, this teleconferencing option was only available for emergencies proclaimed by the California Governor. However, now under SB 707, this option now also allows teleconferencing and fully remote meetings during a declared “local emergency,” which is defined as a condition of extreme peril to persons or property proclaimed by the governing body of the local agency affected under the California Emergency Services Act, or a local health emergency declared by local health officer reasonably based on a hazardous or medical waste release. A local emergency refers only to local emergencies within the boundaries of that agency’s jurisdiction.
There are also two additional teleconferencing alternatives, applicable to specific legislative bodies – “Eligible Subsidiary Bodies” and “Eligible Multijurisdictional Bodies”.
Staff is seeking direction from the City Council as to whether, and to what extent, the City Council wishes to have meetings of the City Council, in addition to meetings of the City’s City Boards, Commissions and Committees, conducted by teleconference under the recent amendments to the Brown Act.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None.
REVIEWED BY:
Department Director: Brenda Pree
City Manager: Scott Stiles
ATTACHMENTS:
A. Link to the Ralph M. Brown Act