Brown adds to open meetings website

Secretary of State Matt Brown announced the addition of expanded features to E-Town Crier , the open meetings website that lets citizens stay informed about meetings held by local and state government. The new options keep citizens linked to government with email notices of upcoming meetings, as well as a search by date, entity or subject.


“Citizens need to know when their government makes important decisions,” Brown said. “ E-Town Crier puts the information citizens need at their fingertips and also sends it to their inboxes.”

Under a state law passed at Brown’s request in 2004, state and local government agencies and all public bodies are required to file meeting notices with the Office of the Secretary of State and all executive agencies are additionally required to file meeting minutes.

Through E-Town Crier citizens have been able to look up those meeting notices, agendas and minutes. Now, by going to www.state.ri.us/etowncrier they can also have notices for upcoming meetings sent directly to their email inbox. The e-mail notices can be for a specific entity, day or even subject.

If a citizen is interested in zoning issues in Providence, the user can search for “zoning” and “Providence”. Any meetings with those terms in filed agendas will appear. The user simply clicks on the “e-mail” box, enters his/her email and accepts the confirmation email.

For more information about E-Town Crier or the other tools available go to www.state.ri.us or call the Office of Secretary of State Matt Brown at 222-3983.