Can you speak at a
city council meeting?
It depends on the state you live in — and the answer is written down. Below: the open meetings statute for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the notice each one requires, and whether the law identifies a right to address the body. One page per jurisdiction, each linked to the statute it came from.
13
Right to be heard identified
The statute itself provides an opportunity to address the body.
5
Conditional or body-specific
The law addresses comment, but not as a flat duty on every body.
33
Nothing general in the act
Local rules of procedure usually provide comment anyway.
A missing statutory right is not a ban. In most of the 33, councils take public comment under their own rules — the difference is that the opportunity is theirs to withdraw rather than yours to claim. That distinction is the whole reason this directory exists.
Group 1 · 13 jurisdictions
The law identifies a right to be heard
Alaska No fixed period
California 72 h (3 days)
Florida No fixed period
Hawaii 144 h (6 days)
Louisiana 24 h (1 day)
Montana No fixed period
Nebraska No fixed period
Nevada 72 h (3 days)
Pennsylvania 24 h (1 day)
South Dakota 24 h (1 day)
Texas 72 h (3 days)
Vermont 48 h (2 days)
Washington 24 h (1 day)
Group 2 · 5 jurisdictions
Conditional or body-specific
Group 3 · 33 jurisdictions
No general statutory requirement identified
Alabama 168 h (7 days)
Arkansas No fixed period
Colorado 24 h (1 day)
Connecticut 24 h (1 day)
Delaware 168 h (7 days)
District of Columbia 48 h (2 days)
Georgia 168 h (7 days)
Idaho 120 h (5 days)
Indiana 48 h (2 days)
Iowa 24 h (1 day)
Kansas No fixed period
Kentucky No fixed period
Maine No fixed period
Maryland No fixed period
Massachusetts 48 h (2 days)
Minnesota No fixed period
Mississippi No fixed period
Missouri 24 h (1 day)
New Hampshire 24 h (1 day)
New Mexico 72 h (3 days)
New York 72 h (3 days)
North Dakota No fixed period
Ohio No fixed period
Oklahoma 24 h (1 day)
Oregon No fixed period
Rhode Island 48 h (2 days)
South Carolina 24 h (1 day)
Tennessee No fixed period
Utah 24 h (1 day)
Virginia 72 h (3 days)
West Virginia No fixed period
Wisconsin 24 h (1 day)
Wyoming No fixed period
Everything at once
The full table
| Jurisdiction | Open meetings law | Citation | Notice | Right to speak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Alabama Open Meetings Act | Ala. Code § 36-25A-1 et seq. | 168 h (7 days) | Not in state act |
| Alaska | Alaska Open Meetings Act | Alaska Stat. § 44.62.310 | No fixed period | Identified |
| Arizona | Arizona Open Meeting Law | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 38-431 et seq. | 24 h (1 day) | Conditional |
| Arkansas | Arkansas Freedom of Information Act | Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-101 et seq. | No fixed period | Not in state act |
| California | Ralph M. Brown Act | Cal. Gov. Code § 54950 et seq. | 72 h (3 days) | Identified |
| Colorado | Colorado Open Meetings Law | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 24-6-401 et seq. | 24 h (1 day) | Not in state act |
| Connecticut | Connecticut Freedom of Information Act | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-200 et seq. | 24 h (1 day) | Not in state act |
| Delaware | Delaware Freedom of Information Act | 29 Del. C. § 10001 et seq. | 168 h (7 days) | Not in state act |
| District of Columbia | District of Columbia Open Meetings Act | D.C. Code § 2-571 et seq. | 48 h (2 days) | Not in state act |
| Florida | Florida Sunshine Law | Fla. Stat. § 286.011 et seq. | No fixed period | Identified |
| Georgia | Georgia Open Meetings Act | O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1 et seq. | 168 h (7 days) | Not in state act |
| Hawaii | Hawaii Sunshine Law | Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 92, pt. I | 144 h (6 days) | Identified |
| Idaho | Idaho Open Meeting Law | Idaho Code § 74-201 et seq. | 120 h (5 days) | Not in state act |
| Illinois | Illinois Open Meetings Act | 5 ILCS 120/1 et seq. | 48 h (2 days) | Conditional |
| Indiana | Indiana Open Door Law | Ind. Code § 5-14-1.5-1 et seq. | 48 h (2 days) | Not in state act |
| Iowa | Iowa Open Meetings Law | Iowa Code ch. 21 | 24 h (1 day) | Not in state act |
| Kansas | Kansas Open Meetings Act | Kan. Stat. Ann. § 75-4317 et seq. | No fixed period | Not in state act |
| Kentucky | Kentucky Open Meetings Act | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 61.805 et seq. | No fixed period | Not in state act |
| Louisiana | Louisiana Open Meetings Law | La. Rev. Stat. § 42:11 et seq. | 24 h (1 day) | Identified |
| Maine | Maine Freedom of Access Act | 1 M.R.S. § 401 et seq. | No fixed period | Not in state act |
| Maryland | Maryland Open Meetings Act | Md. Code, Gen. Prov. § 3-101 et seq. | No fixed period | Not in state act |
| Massachusetts | Massachusetts Open Meeting Law | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 30A, §§ 18-25 | 48 h (2 days) | Not in state act |
| Michigan | Michigan Open Meetings Act | Mich. Comp. Laws § 15.261 et seq. | No fixed period | Conditional |
| Minnesota | Minnesota Open Meeting Law | Minn. Stat. ch. 13D | No fixed period | Not in state act |
| Mississippi | Mississippi Open Meetings Act | Miss. Code Ann. § 25-41-1 et seq. | No fixed period | Not in state act |
| Missouri | Missouri Sunshine Law | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 610.010 et seq. | 24 h (1 day) | Not in state act |
| Montana | Montana Open Meeting Law | Mont. Code Ann. § 2-3-201 et seq. | No fixed period | Identified |
| Nebraska | Nebraska Open Meetings Act | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-1407 et seq. | No fixed period | Identified |
| Nevada | Nevada Open Meeting Law | Nev. Rev. Stat. ch. 241 | 72 h (3 days) | Identified |
| New Hampshire | New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. ch. 91-A | 24 h (1 day) | Not in state act |
| New Jersey | Open Public Meetings Act | N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq. | 48 h (2 days) | Conditional |
| New Mexico | New Mexico Open Meetings Act | N.M. Stat. Ann. § 10-15-1 et seq. | 72 h (3 days) | Not in state act |
| New York | New York Open Meetings Law | N.Y. Pub. Off. Law §§ 100-111 | 72 h (3 days) | Not in state act |
| North Carolina | North Carolina Open Meetings Law | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-318.9 et seq. | No fixed period | Conditional |
| North Dakota | North Dakota Open Meetings Law | N.D.C.C. § 44-04-19 et seq. | No fixed period | Not in state act |
| Ohio | Ohio Open Meetings Act | Ohio Rev. Code § 121.22 | No fixed period | Not in state act |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma Open Meeting Act | Okla. Stat. tit. 25, § 301 et seq. | 24 h (1 day) | Not in state act |
| Oregon | Oregon Public Meetings Law | Or. Rev. Stat. § 192.610 et seq. | No fixed period | Not in state act |
| Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania Sunshine Act | 65 Pa. C.S. § 701 et seq. | 24 h (1 day) | Identified |
| Rhode Island | Rhode Island Open Meetings Act | R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-1 et seq. | 48 h (2 days) | Not in state act |
| South Carolina | South Carolina Freedom of Information Act | S.C. Code Ann. § 30-4-10 et seq. | 24 h (1 day) | Not in state act |
| South Dakota | South Dakota Open Meetings Law | S.D. Codified Laws ch. 1-25 | 24 h (1 day) | Identified |
| Tennessee | Tennessee Open Meetings Act | Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-44-101 et seq. | No fixed period | Not in state act |
| Texas | Texas Open Meetings Act | Tex. Gov't Code ch. 551 | 72 h (3 days) | Identified |
| Utah | Utah Open and Public Meetings Act | Utah Code § 52-4-101 et seq. | 24 h (1 day) | Not in state act |
| Vermont | Vermont Open Meeting Law | 1 V.S.A. § 310 et seq. | 48 h (2 days) | Identified |
| Virginia | Virginia Freedom of Information Act | Va. Code Ann. § 2.2-3700 et seq. | 72 h (3 days) | Not in state act |
| Washington | Open Public Meetings Act | Wash. Rev. Code ch. 42.30 | 24 h (1 day) | Identified |
| West Virginia | West Virginia Open Governmental Proceedings Act | W. Va. Code § 6-9A-1 et seq. | No fixed period | Not in state act |
| Wisconsin | Wisconsin Open Meetings Law | Wis. Stat. §§ 19.81-19.98 | 24 h (1 day) | Not in state act |
| Wyoming | Wyoming Public Meetings Act | Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-401 et seq. | No fixed period | Not in state act |
Sources & method
How this was builtEach entry was checked against the state's open
meetings statute and the published notice requirement, then summarized. Where a secondary
source disagreed with the statute text, the statute won. Recent changes in Texas (2019),
Washington (2022) and Nevada (2023) postdate several widely-cited comparison tables.
CorrectionsThe site and its source data are in a public repository.
Share a correction through an issue or pull request.
github.com/theguysaccount/politicz
Coalition ecosystem
Politicz is part of the America.co coalition — independent projects building technology, media and civic infrastructure for a healthier American democracy. Each one is its own thing; none of them speaks for the others.
