The SC Freedom of Information Act requires public bodies such as city councils to post their meeting agendas at their office or meeting place, and also to provide them to the news media and others who have requested them, always at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting.
The law has another distribution requirement as well: the public body must post the agenda on its website, as long as it has one, by the 24-hour deadline.
Many municipal governments go beyond those requirements, posting agenda packets — which are separate documents from agendas that contain a variety of supplemental material on each agenda item — onto their website ahead of the meeting. Some will also do more than is legally required by livestreaming the meetings themselves to make them more accessible.
These efforts can improve transparency and community engagement, but it’s also important to handle them consistently. Here’s some points to consider when posting materials for city or town council meetings online:
Keep the postings consistent.
Posting agenda materials regularly takes staff time. As with other forms of ongoing communication, if a city government begins posting agenda packets, it should continue doing so on an ongoing basis. If posting the packets stops — especially if residents have come to expect their posting — it can create the perception that the municipality is not being transparent.
Does the information need to be available other ways?
The many ordinances and other council meeting materials found in agenda packets tend to be unfamiliar reading materials for residents. Some city governments will dedicate resources to creating an e-newsletter to help better explain the municipality’s operations to residents. Some cities have posted news items or videos recapping what took place at a council meeting, or news items explaining critical pieces of what the council acts on, such as the annual budget or planning and zoning documents.
As with other materials that go up on a city’s website, municipalities need to weigh whether they can devote staff time to maintaining these types of communication consistently.
Learn more about FOIA requirements through the SC Press Association’s Public Official's Guide to Compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, available online.