SB 1187 Update: What Changed in California’s Brown Act

Last reviewed: November 2026

What changed

On September 18, 2026, Governor Newsom signed SB 1187 (Chapter 324, Statutes of 2026). It was enacted as an urgency statute, so it took effect immediately. SB 1187 removes the language access and related requirements that SB 707 had placed on eligible legislative bodies, including:

• Translating each meeting agenda into applicable languages, including instructions for joining remotely
• Translating the agency’s public-meetings webpage
• Reasonably assisting members of the public who wish to translate a public meeting or receive interpretation, and publicizing how to request that help
• Maintaining a system for electronically accepting and fulfilling requests for meeting agendas and documents
• Maintaining a dedicated public-meetings webpage linked from the agency’s home page
• Providing a physical location where the public can post additional agenda translations

What still applies

SB 1187 narrowed SB 707’s requirements for eligible legislative bodies, but it didn’t eliminate them. Eligible legislative bodies are city councils and county boards in jurisdictions of 30,000 or more, city councils in counties of 600,000 or more, and certain large special districts. Under Government Code Section 54953.4 as amended, they must still:

• Offer the public the opportunity to participate in every open meeting by two-way telephonic service or two-way audiovisual platform, with limited exceptions
• Maintain an adopted policy for service disruptions. If a disruption blocks remote access, the body must recess for at least one hour and make a good-faith effort to restore service, and it can continue without remote access only after a roll-call finding that the public interest in proceeding outweighs remote access
• Post and provide a call-in option when using a two-way audiovisual platform, and activate the platform’s automatic captioning function if one is included
• Give members of the public commenting remotely the same time allotment as those attending in person
• Make reasonable efforts to encourage participation from groups that don’t traditionally take part, such as media, civic, and community organizations, including those serving non-English-speaking communities

These provisions remain in effect until January 1, 2030, unless the Legislature extends them. School districts and community college districts aren’t eligible legislative bodies. However, the general SB 707 changes that took effect January 1, 2026, still apply to them.

Other obligations are also unchanged. Where public comment time limits apply, the Brown Act still gives speakers who use a translator at least twice the allotted time, unless the body uses simultaneous translation equipment.

Changes to the Brown Act also don’t affect obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. ADA Title II effective-communication requirements apply to public meetings now. Under the Department of Justice’s Title II web rule, state and local government websites and apps must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA, which includes captions for live and prerecorded video. Compliance deadlines are April 26, 2027, for entities serving populations of 50,000 or more, and April 26, 2028, for smaller entities and special districts. The extension that set these dates is being challenged in court, so earlier deadlines could return.

Access is still the goal

SB 1187 doesn’t stop agencies from translating or interpreting on their own, and the bill’s supporters stressed that agencies remain free to do so. Two of the requirements that remain also point toward multilingual access.

Eligible legislative bodies must still make reasonable efforts to encourage participation from communities that don’t traditionally take part, including those served by organizations for non-English-speaking residents. The law leaves the method to each agency and doesn’t require translation, but offering meetings in residents’ languages is one direct way to make that outreach meaningful.

Eligible bodies must also turn on their platform’s automatic captions. The law sets no quality standard for those captions and covers only what the platform already includes. Many agencies go further, with captions that are accurate enough for every resident to follow and available in more than one language.

Many California agencies built captions and multilingual access into their meetings ahead of July 1, 2026, and they can keep offering them to the communities that rely on them. Wordly helps agencies do that affordably, with live AI captions and translation for in-person, hybrid, and livestreamed meetings.

This content is for informational purposes and is not legal advice. Consult your legal counsel about your organization’s obligations.

Sources: SB 1187, Chapter 324 · Best Best & Krieger analysis · DOJ ADA Title II web rule · DOJ Title II compliance date extension