Page 4 - 2026 Lozano Smith Brown Act Handbook

moving the meeting elsewhere. The court emphasized that the statute does not authorize
relocation and that exceptions to the Brown Act’s open meeting requirements must be construed
narrowly to preserve public access and transparency.

Importantly, the court’s ruling did not determine whether the City ultimately violated the law but
reinstated the plaintiff’s claims and allowed the case to proceed in superior court.

This case serves as a cautionary reminder to local governments that attempts to manage
disruption must still align with the narrow statutory exceptions provided under the Brown Act.
A legislative body facing willful disruption cannot circumvent the Brown Act by simply
recessing and moving to a different or smaller location. The Brown Act requires either ordering
the same meeting room cleared before continuing, or removal of specific disruptive individuals,
rather than excluding the general public by changing venues.

2. SB 707 Makes Substantial Amendments to the Brown Act.

Governor Newsom signed SB 707 into law amending the Brown Act, with some provisions
effective January 1, 2026, and other provisions effective July 1, 2026. The stated purpose for the
Brown Act amendments is to modernize the Brown Act and make local legislative body
meetings more accessible to the public. Heavy emphasis was made on reaching
underrepresented communities and non-English-speaking communities.

SB 707 includes some provisions applicable to all public agencies, but the greatest impacts apply
only to “eligible legislative bodies.” Under SB 707, an eligible legislative body is defined as a
city council of a city with a population of 30,000 or more; a county board of supervisors of a
county with a population of 30,000 or more; a city council of a city in a county with a population
of 600,000 or more; or the board of directors of a special district having an internet website
satisfying certain conditions. Local educational agencies are not included, though other changes
implemented by SB 707 will apply to such agencies, as discussed further below.

SB 707 also made a number of clean up and clarifying amendments to the Brown Act. The
major changes are reviewed below.

Teleconferencing

SB 707 modernizes alternative teleconferencing rules for all local legislative bodies and
consolidates and expands upon previous pandemic-era provisions (Assembly Bills 361 and 2449)
into a single framework that allows for remote participation under multiple circumstances, not
just personal “emergencies” and “just cause”. The following is notable:

• Remote participation by legislative body members is allowed under the following
circumstances: traditional teleconference, for just cause (expanded definition), in
emergencies, by subsidiary bodies (subcommittees and commissions), by Los Angeles
neighborhood councils, by community college student organizations, by health
authorities, and by multijurisdictional bodies.

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