H.R. 9408: Open Meetings Act of 2026

This bill would require the Judicial Conference and related judicial conferences or councils covered by federal law to be more open about their meetings.

What it would require

• Advance public notice: At least 30 days before a covered meeting, the Judicial Conference would have to post notice on its website showing the date, time, place, and agenda of the meeting.
• Public live audio streaming: Covered meetings would have to be streamed live in audio form, and the public could listen for free and without registering.
• Online archive: The Judicial Conference would have to keep a record of the audio stream and post an archive of it online within 7 days after the meeting.

Closed-session exceptions

• If the law already prohibits public discussion of a matter, the conference or council would have to go into a closed session for that part of the meeting.
• The conference or council could also, by a majority vote, enter a closed session for a sensitive or confidential matter.
• Before closing the session, it would have to state the reason for doing so.

Waiver for notice

• The Judicial Conference could waive the 30-day notice requirement if it has good cause.
• If it does so, it would have to publish an explanation online for why the notice requirement was not met.

Bottom line

The bill is mainly about making certain judicial conference and council meetings more transparent by requiring advance notice, live audio access, and posted recordings, while still allowing closed sessions for legally protected or confidential topics.

Relevant Companies

None found