Starting July 1, 2026, SB 707 requires eligible legislative bodies to post agendas in "applicable languages." This checklist breaks the work into steps a clerk's office can plan, assign and track.
First, what the bill asks for
SB 707 (Durazo), the Brown Act modernization bill, was signed October 3, 2025. For eligible legislative bodies, the agenda translation requirement works like this:
- Agendas must be translated into "applicable languages."
- Applicable languages are determined from American Community Survey data on residents who speak English less than "very well."
- There are at most three applicable languages.
- The agenda is translated, not the full agenda packet.
- Translated agendas are posted with the English agenda.
- Each translated agenda includes instructions, in that language, for joining the meeting by phone or internet.
- Digital translation tools are allowed.
This is a summary, not legal advice. Your city attorney or county counsel should confirm how the requirement applies to your body.
Before you translate
Step 1: Confirm coverage
- Ask counsel whether your body is an eligible legislative body. Eligible bodies include city councils of cities with 30,000 or more residents (or cities in counties of 600,000 or more) and boards of supervisors of counties over 30,000.
- List every body you staff. Council or board, plus commissions and committees. Ask counsel which of them the requirement reaches.
- Write down the start date. Most new requirements for eligible bodies start July 1, 2026.
Step 2: Identify your applicable languages
- Pull the American Community Survey data for residents who speak English less than "very well."
- Work with counsel on the method. Decide how you will read the data and document the result.
- Record your list of up to three languages and the date and data source you used, so you can explain the choice later.
- Set a reminder to revisit the list when new survey data comes out, if counsel advises it.
Translating and posting
Step 3: Set up the translation workflow
- Choose your method. Digital translation tools are allowed. Many offices will combine a tool with a human review for names and terms that matter locally.
- Decide who reviews. If you have bilingual staff, decide who checks each language and how much time they need.
- Build a term list. Department names, program names, street names and standard agenda headings. Reusing the same translations every meeting keeps agendas consistent.
- Fit it into your calendar. Translation has to happen after the English agenda is final and before posting. Work backward from your posting deadline and give the step a set time slot.
- Plan for late changes. Decide what happens if the English agenda is amended after translation.
Step 4: Write the joining instructions
Each translated agenda needs instructions, in that language, for joining by phone or internet. These connect directly to the bill's remote participation requirement: eligible bodies must offer a two-way telephonic or two-way audiovisual way for the public to attend and comment remotely.
- Translate the phone number and access steps.
- Translate how to join online and how to make a public comment.
- Keep the instructions short and in the same place on every agenda.
- Have someone test the steps exactly as written.
Step 5: Post and publish
- Post the translated agendas with the English agenda, wherever you post it.
- Add them to your public meetings webpage. SB 707 also calls for a dedicated public meetings webpage linked from the home page, with a process explanation, comment instructions, a calendar and agendas.
- Label each file clearly with the language name written in that language, so residents can find theirs.
- Check the electronic request option. Bodies need a way for the public to request agendas electronically. Decide whether translated agendas go out the same way.
Step 6: Think past the agenda
A translated agenda tells residents what is on the table. During the meeting itself, SB 707 asks bodies to "reasonably assist" members of the public who want to translate a meeting or receive interpretation, as long as it doesn't disrupt the meeting. Bodies are not required to provide interpretation themselves. The bill also asks for reasonable efforts to reach communities that don't traditionally participate.
SB 707 does not require live captions. Still, live captions and live translation are a practical way to support these language-access and participation goals. With SentraCaptions:
- You choose the translation languages for each meeting, up to 8, from 75 supported languages. A natural starting point is your applicable languages.
- Residents scan a QR code and read along on their phone in their language, with no app and no sign-in.
- A chamber screen can show captions in more than one language side by side.
- Every screen labels the captions as automatic and notes that they may contain errors.
Check your applicable languages against the supported list. The 75 languages include Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Korean, Armenian, Persian (Farsi), Punjabi, Arabic, Hindi and Russian; see the features page for the full list. Hmong and Khmer are not supported, so if one of those is an applicable language for you, plan another way to assist those residents.
The checklist at a glance
- Counsel confirms which bodies are covered.
- Applicable languages identified from American Community Survey data and documented.
- Translation method, reviewers and term list in place.
- Translation step added to the agenda calendar.
- Translated phone and internet joining instructions written and tested.
- Translated agendas posted with the English agenda and on the public meetings webpage.
- Plan for assisting residents who want translation or interpretation during meetings.
Related reading
- SB 707: what changes for public meetings, and where live captions fit
- Choosing translation languages for your meetings
- Captions on residents' phones with a QR code
- See the full list of capabilities on the features page, or contact us with questions.