Page 30 - 2026 Lozano Smith Brown Act Handbook

6. Agenda Packages and Other Legislative Body Materials Must be Made Available
to All Legislative Body Members at the Same Time.

When distributing agenda packages and other materials to members of the
legislative body, those materials should be provided to all members at the same time. This rule
arises from provisions of the California Public Records Act, which require that whenever the
local agency is providing a public record to a member of a legislative body in the administration
of the member’s duties, the local agency shall not discriminate between or among any of the
members as to which record is made available or when it is made available.

In some contexts, there may be a mandatory duty to provide public comments to
the legislative body prior to consideration of the matter. For example, planning agency staff
must collect and compile public comments regarding a general plan housing element and provide
those comments to each member of the legislative body before adoption of the housing element.

(Government Code §§ 7921.305, 7921.310, 65585.)

7. Emergency Meetings Are Permissible.

An exception to the 24-hour notice requirement for special meetings is allowed in
the case of an emergency situation involving matters that require prompt action due to the
disruption or threatened disruption of public facilities and services. Except in “dire
emergencies,” attempts must be made to contact the media by telephone, or email if that is the
media’s preferred method of communication, at least one hour before the meeting. This
requirement is waived if telephone or email service is not working. A “dire emergency” is
defined as a crippling disaster, mass destruction, terrorist act, or threatened terrorist activity that
poses peril so immediate and significant that requiring a legislative body to provide one hour
notice before holding an emergency meeting may endanger the public health or safety. For dire
emergencies, attempts to contact the media must be made at or near the time that members of the
legislative body are notified of the emergency meeting.

Closed sessions are permissible during emergency meetings if agreed to by a two-
thirds vote of the members present or by unanimous vote if less than two-thirds of the members
are present.

Following an emergency meeting, the minutes of the meeting, a list of persons
notified or attempted to be notified of the meeting, and actions taken must be posted for ten days
in a public place.

(Government Code § 54956.5.)

18 LozanoSmith.com 2026 Brown Act Handbook