New Nebraska Open Meeting Notice Requirements Beginning in 2025

Beginning January 1, 2025, Nebraska law will impose new notice requirements for meetings of a public body.  Legislative Bill 287 (“LB 287”) amends the Nebraska Open Meetings Act, Nebraska Revised Statutes sections 84‑1407–1414 (the “Act”)[1], in several significant ways.

LB 287 amends section 84-1411 to include a new requirement and option for proper notice posting.  An entity previously had to publish notice of their meeting in a newspaper of general circulation and post the notice on the corresponding newspaper’s website, if available.  If the newspaper did not timely post the notice, or if the entity failed to timely publish with the newspaper, the entity had no other statutory option to timely notify the public and comply with the Act.

LB 287 remedies this issue.  Now, in the above situation, the entity must post the notice to a statewide website that a majority of Nebraska newspapers maintain as a repository for these types of notices.[2]  The entity must also post the notice to the local newspaper’s website, if available.  This adjustment creates an alternative for public bodies, including county hospitals and hospital districts, and advisory committees of those public bodies.

LB 287 also removes subsections (1)(d) and (1)(e) from section 84‑1411.  With these changes, Nebraska law no longer requires public bodies to record the methods and dates of the notices within their minutes.  Further, Nebraska law no longer requires entities to include an agenda of the public meeting within the notice they publish.  The rest of section 84-1411 substantively remains the same.