Staff summarizes Act 505 (2025) changes to Arkansas open-meetings rules; remote attendance restricted for municipal bodies

A staff member summarized Act 505 of 2025 and its effects on Arkansas public bodies at the July 19 Springdale Airport Commission meeting, emphasizing new definitions of meetings, expanded notice requirements and limits on remote attendance for municipal governing bodies.
The presenter said the law clarifies what constitutes a meeting and what does not, and requires that meeting agendas be published online on the city’s social-media platforms at least three days before the meeting (with exceptions for emergency or special meetings). He also explained that the act restricts remote attendance: municipalities and their boards and commissions generally may not adopt a remote-attendance policy that counts remote members toward quorum or permits remote voting; other public bodies may adopt such policies but must make equivalent remote access available to the public.
“The reason we do that is because any communications between commissioners about pending business, which is now defined as deliberation, has to be done in a meeting,” the presenter said. The presenter also noted that the law increases the risk that a decision could be invalidated if a court finds a violation of the open-meetings law.
The presenter answered commissioners’ questions about practical impacts, including that members may still listen remotely but cannot be counted for quorum or vote if not physically present at municipal governing-body meetings.