S-1863.1                   _______________________________________________

                                                     SENATE BILL 5907

                              _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              53rd Legislature                             1993 Regular Session

By Senator Amondson

Read first time 02/24/93.  Referred to Committee on Government Operations.

Authorizing governing bodies of public agencies to have executive sessions.

          AN ACT Relating to government; and adding a new section to chapter 42.30 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 42.30 RCW to read as follows:

          This chapter shall not be construed to prevent a governing body of a public agency from holding up to four executive sessions during a calendar year.  The governing body may exclude members of the public and the media from executive sessions.  The purpose of the executive session shall be to allow the members of the governing body to discuss freely all matters relating to the governance or management of the agency, including, but not limited to, personnel, policy, administration, and goals.  An executive session may be called, upon forty-eight hours' notice, by the presiding officer or by a quorum of the governing body, who shall publicly announce the time and place of the session.  Such sessions shall be subject to the following guidelines and limitations:

          (1) All sessions shall be recorded by an electronic recording device.  A transcript shall not be made of the recording except as provided in this section.

          (2) A session shall not last longer than four hours, exclusive of adjournments.

          (3) No personnel action may be taken by the governing body against an agency employee for a period of sixty days after an executive session if that action was discussed in the session, but the governing body may meet in executive session within the sixty-day period pursuant to RCW 42.30.110(1)(f).  In the event personnel action is taken against an employee of the agency, the employee shall be entitled to a transcript of that portion of any session pertaining to the personnel action.

          (4) No action may be taken during an executive session.

          (5) Attendance at an executive session may be compelled by the rules of the governing body.

                                                           --- END ---