2004 Minnesota Statutes

     248.10 Rehabilitation Council for the Blind. 

    (a) The commissioner shall establish a Rehabilitation 
 Council for the Blind consistent with the federal Rehabilitation 
 Act of 1973, Public Law 93-112, as amended.  Council members 
 shall be compensated as provided in section 15.059, subdivision 
 3.  The council shall advise the commissioner about programs of 
 the Division of State Services for the Blind. 

    (b) Notwithstanding section 13D.01, the Rehabilitation 
 Council for the Blind may conduct a meeting of its members by 
 telephone or other electronic means so long as the following 
 conditions are met: 

    (1) all members of the council participating in the 
 meeting, wherever their physical location, can hear one another 
 and can hear all discussion and testimony; 

    (2) members of the public present at the regular meeting 
 location of the council can hear all discussion and testimony 
 and all votes of members of the council; 

    (3) at least one member of the council is physically 
 present at the regular meeting location; and 

    (4) all votes are conducted by roll call, so each member's 
 vote on each issue can be identified and recorded. 

    (c) Each member of the council participating in a meeting 
 by telephone or other electronic means is considered present at 
 the meeting for purposes of determining a quorum and 
 participating in all proceedings. 

    (d) If telephone or another electronic means is used to 
 conduct a meeting, the council to the extent practical, shall 
 allow a person to monitor the meeting electronically from a 
 remote location.  The council may require the person making such 
 a connection to pay for documented marginal costs that the 
 council incurs as a result of the additional connection.  

    (e) If telephone or another electronic means is used to 
 conduct a regular, special, or emergency meeting, the council 
 shall provide notice of the regular meeting location, of the 
 fact that some members may participate by electronic means, and 
 of the provisions of paragraph (d).  The timing and method of 
 providing notice is governed by section 13D.04. 

    HIST: 1Sp1985 c 14 art 9 s 14; 1988 c 629 s 48; 1989 c 106 s 
 2; 1992 c 470 s 4; 1993 c 97 s 1; 1995 c 82 s 10,16; 2001 c 161 
 s 43; 2003 c 128 art 12 s 1