By Rick M. Green, Capitol Bureau
Gov. Mary Fallin signed into law on Wednesday a bill that allows residents to recover attorney fees if they successfully sue over violations of Oklahoma’s Open Meeting Act.
“This really is a landmark piece of legislation where citizens are empowered to hold public bodies accountable and require them to follow the Open Meeting Act,” said Mark Thomas, spokesman for the Oklahoma Press Association.
The act requires public bodies to make their meetings public and provide advance public notice of when and where they will meet.
Residents legally can challenge public bodies that don’t follow the act, but they have been required to incur all legal expenses to do so, even if they prevail in the litigation.
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