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The yearly meeting schedule in Pennsylvania: notice of the first meeting and the rest

Short answer

A Pennsylvania board gives public notice of its first regular meeting of each calendar or fiscal year at least three days ahead, and gives public notice of the schedule of its remaining regular meetings. A meeting the board adds after that schedule is set is a special meeting and needs its own notice at least 24 hours ahead. A moved regular meeting needs the same 24-hour notice.(65 Pa.C.S. §§ 703, 709(a))

This guide explains the law in plain words; it is not legal advice. For a question about your board, ask your municipal solicitor.
By Clarivis · Checked against 65 Pa.C.S. §§ 703 and 709, read 2026-10-27 on Tue, Oct 27, 2026.

Where this fits in your meeting cycle: Clarivis is software that helps a board follow these steps: it counts the deadline for each meeting's agenda and each special meeting's notice and drafts the minutes for your board to correct and approve; it does not post the agenda, send the notice to a newspaper or track the newspaper's own deadline for you.

See how Clarivis helps
Questions on this page

What is the yearly meeting schedule?

It is the list of a board's regular meetings for the rest of the year, made public with the notice of the year's first regular meeting. The Act does not define a regular meeting, and it does not say what the schedule must list.

Statute text

“An agency shall give public notice of its first regular meeting of each calendar or fiscal year not less than three days in advance of the meeting and shall give public notice of the schedule of its remaining regular meetings.”

65 Pa.C.S. § 709(a)

How far ahead is the notice, and how is it given?

At least three days before the year's first regular meeting. What counts as public notice, in a newspaper and by posting, is in § 703. The newspaper notice must also be sent in time for the paper to publish it before the meeting day (§ 709(b)); ask the paper how far ahead it needs the notice. See the meeting notice and agenda guide.

What if the board adds or moves a meeting?

A meeting scheduled after the regular schedule is set is a special meeting:

Statute text

“A meeting scheduled by an agency after the agency's regular schedule of meetings has been established.”

65 Pa.C.S. § 703

A special meeting, and a regular meeting that is moved, each need public notice at least 24 hours ahead (§§ 703, 709). The Act sets no other procedure for changing the schedule.

Does the schedule replace the agenda?

No. The schedule says when the board will meet. Each meeting still needs its own agenda, on the board's website if it has one at least 24 hours ahead, and posted at the meeting place and the board's office (§ 709(c.1)).

Checklist

Items marked (safe course) are good practice, not the statute's words.

Before the year's first regular meeting

  • Public notice of that meeting at least three days ahead. (§ 709(a))
  • Public notice of the schedule of the remaining regular meetings. (§ 709(a))
  • (Safe course) Ask the newspaper how far ahead it needs the notice, and send it in time. (§ 709(b))

During the year

  • A meeting added after the schedule is set, or a regular meeting moved: public notice at least 24 hours ahead. (§§ 703, 709)
  • Every regular or special meeting still gets its own agenda. (§ 709(c.1))

What the law does not settle

Questions to take to your municipal solicitor; this guide does not answer them.

  • What the schedule must contain besides the meetings, and whether a notice of dates alone is enough.
  • Whether the year is the board's calendar year or its fiscal year, and whether the board chooses which.
  • Whether a moved regular meeting changes the schedule for later meetings, or only that meeting.
  • How a committee created during the year gives its first notice.

How Clarivis helps

Clarivis does not prepare, publish or count the notice of the yearly schedule; your board gives it.

  • Does not check the first-meeting notice. It does not count the three days before the year's first regular meeting, and it does not track how far ahead the newspaper needs a notice to print it; ask the paper.
  • Counts each agenda and special-meeting notice. It counts the deadline for each meeting's agenda and for a special meeting's notice. It shows no newspaper step for a moved regular meeting, because it cannot tell one from a regular meeting.
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