KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Senate did not violate Missouri’s sunshine law by not allowing Progress Missouri to record committee meetings, the state’s Western District Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
Progress Missouri brought the case because they said there had been issues with committee chairs not allowing them to record in the past. The organization had been told that recordings would be available through the Senate communications office.
“Progress’s contention that the Senate must allow Progress to personally record meetings fails to sufficiently articulate a claim for violation of the statute,” Judge Anthony Rex Gabbert wrote in the unanimous opinion.
The ruling also disagreed that statute says that all attendees must be allowed to record meetings, as long as it’s not disruptive.
“It grants discretion to each individual public body affected by the law to define for itself, through guidelines, how best to enforce the law while minimizing disruption to the meetings of that particular public body,” Gabbert wrote.
“While we’re disappointed that today’s ruling was not in our favor, we’re happy the court maintained that the Missouri Senate is not exempt from Missouri Sunshine Law,” said Laura Swinford, executive director of Progress Missouri. “The court’s indication that the Missouri Senate should operate under Sunshine Law rules is good news for those of us who care about transparency and good governance. We look forward to viewing these recordings and as always, holding our lawmakers accountable.”
The court chose not to rule on the Senate Rule 96 governing the recording procedure, saying a challenge to the rule “presents a nonjusticiable political question.”
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