Senate Bill No. 843 - Summary

• Repeals and reenacts eight sections of Missouri's public records and meetings law (sections 610.010 through 610.027) relating to public records access and governmental body meeting requirements

• Adds "ministerial" and "public business" to defined terms; clarifies definition of "public governmental body" to include quasi-public entities that contract with government or exercise public functions involving tax credits, abatements, or public debt

• Requires public bodies to allow recording of open meetings and to provide notice of closed meetings at least 24 hours in advance; clarifies that closed meetings must be limited to necessary personnel only and may only close a portion of the meeting facility

• Modifies penalties for violations: reduces civil penalty for violations to $100 (from $1,000) but changes burden of proof to require governmental bodies to prove closure is legally justified; establishes separate $5,000 penalty for purposeful violations with mandatory attorney fees

• Caps reasonable time for public bodies to delay record release while seeking legal opinions at 45 days; requires research time for records requests to exclude time spent reviewing records to determine exemptions