Indiana’s meeting livestream law: who must stream, what you must keep, and for how long.
Since July 1, 2025, Indiana's primary local governing bodies must live stream their public meetings, archive the video with links to the agenda, minutes, and memoranda, put the URL in the meeting notice, and keep the recording at least 90 days. One year in, the first complaints have already arrived.
- The statute
- IC 5-14-1.5-2.9, added by HEA 1167-2023 (P.L.127-2023), effective July 1, 2025
- Who must stream
- State agency governing bodies; county, city, town, and township executives, legislative bodies, and fiscal bodies; elected school boards; any governing body that holds its regular meetings in the same room where one of those local bodies holds its regular meetings (2.9(b))
- The archive
- Archived copies of each live transmission, with links to the meeting’s agenda (if any), minutes (if any), and memoranda (2.9(c)(2))
- The notice line
- The meeting notice must include the website for live transmissions and archived copies (2.9(d))
- Retention
- Available for inspection and copying or downloading at least 90 days after the meeting; may be destroyed after that (2.9(f))
Who has to stream
IC 5-14-1.5-2.9, added to the Open Door Law by HEA 1167-2023 (P.L.127-2023) and effective July 1, 2025, is Indiana’s livestream mandate. Subsection (b) lists exactly who it covers:
- the governing body of a state agency (2.9(b)(1));
- the executive, legislative body, or fiscal body of a county, city, town, or township (2.9(b)(2)(A)), which sweeps in county commissioners and councils, city and town councils, township trustees, and township boards;
- a school board that has members who are elected (2.9(b)(2)(B)); and
- any governing body that conducts its regular meetings in the same meeting room where a body in the two local categories above holds its regular meetings (2.9(b)(2)(C)). A plan commission or board of zoning appeals that holds its regular meetings in the council chambers is covered because of where it meets.
Subsection (a) carves out executive sessions (meetings under section 6.1), state educational institutions, and two narrow categories of proceedings that already carry their own record-keeping requirements. Everything else on the list above streams.
What you must provide: the stream, the archive, and the links
Subsection (c) sets out the core duty. On a publicly accessible platform of the public agency’s choice, the governing body must provide two things: live transmissions of its meetings, and archived copies of those live transmissions. The statute does not name a platform. A YouTube channel, a Facebook page, or a video player on the agency’s own website all qualify so long as the public can reach it.
The archive requirement has teeth beyond simply keeping the file. Under 2.9(c)(2), each archived copy must provide access by links to the meeting’s agenda (if any), minutes (if any), and memoranda. Recall that in Indiana, minutes are optional but memoranda, the record kept as the meeting progresses under section 4(b), are mandatory. That means a bare video sitting on a channel with no connection to the meeting’s paper record does not satisfy the section. Our memoranda checklist covers what that record must contain.
Then comes the piece most likely to be missed: under 2.9(d), the governing body shall include the website for live transmissions and archived copies of live transmissions in the meeting notice. The notice you post 48 hours ahead now carries a URL. A notice that is otherwise perfect but omits the streaming address misses a statutory element.
No internet? Record and retain instead
The General Assembly anticipated the body that genuinely cannot stream. Under 2.9(e), if a governing body does not have internet capability for live transmission, it must record the meeting and retain the recording under subsection (f). The fallback swaps the live stream for a recording; it does not excuse the body from creating and keeping a copy the public can obtain.
Subsection (f) then governs both paths. The agency must make a copy of the transmission or recording available for public inspection and copying or downloading for at least 90 days after the date of the meeting. It can do that in either of two ways at its discretion: without charge from a publicly accessible platform of its choosing, or from the agency’s own data storage system upon a records request under IC 5-14-3-3 during regular business hours, in which case a fee under IC 5-14-3-8 is permitted. Once more than 90 days have passed, the agency may destroy the transmission or recording (2.9(f)(2)). The 90 day clock is a floor, not a ceiling; nothing stops a body from keeping its archive indefinitely, and many do.
When the stream drops: the technology failure safe harbor
Every clerk’s first question about this law is what happens when the camera dies mid-meeting. Subsection (g) answers it directly. A technological failure that disrupts or prevents live streaming, recording, archiving, or maintaining a copy does not prevent the governing body from conducting the meeting, does not affect the validity of any action taken at the meeting, does not violate the Open Door Law or any statute on the retention, preservation, or production of public records, and does not subject any person to civil or criminal liability.
The safe harbor is broad, but it covers failures, not choices. A router that drops is a technological failure. The practical move when it happens: note the failure and the time in the memoranda, continue the meeting, and restore the stream or fall back to a recording if you can. The paper trail showing you tried is what separates a failure from a decision.
One year in: the complaints have started
This is not a dormant provision. The Public Access Counselor’s fiscal year 2026 annual report confirms that the office has published guidance on the section and that the first formal complaints under it have already arrived, one year after the effective date. Residents notice when the video is missing, when the archive has no agenda attached, or when the notice never said where to watch. The section is already generating compliance disputes, and a body that treated July 2025 as optional is now the easy target.
Dekree runs this workflow for Michigan local governments today: meeting pages where the notice, agenda, minutes, and recording live in one place your website embeds. We are bringing the platform to Indiana next. If you want it in your office, email contact@dekree.ai with the subject line Indiana and we will add your office to the Indiana rollout list.
A working compliance checklist
Here is the routine that satisfies the section, in the order a clerk actually does it:
- Pick one platform and stay on it. The statute lets the agency choose; consistency is what lets the public find you and keeps your notice line accurate.
- Put the URL in every meeting notice (2.9(d)). Make it a standing line in your notice template so it cannot be forgotten.
- After the meeting, link the archive to the record: the agenda if you used one, the minutes if you keep them, and always the memoranda (2.9(c)(2)).
- Start the 90 day clock from the meeting date. Keep the copy available for inspection, copying, and download until it runs; after that, deletion is your call, not a requirement (2.9(f)).
- When the stream drops, keep going. Record the failure in the memoranda and rely on the subsection (g) safe harbor. The meeting and its votes stand.
None of this replaces the Open Door Law’s baseline notice rules. The 48 hour posted notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, still governs every meeting (IC 5-14-1.5-5(a)), and the streaming URL is now one more element that notice must carry for covered bodies. The livestream section rides on top of that framework rather than replacing it. The full notice regime, including annual notices for regular meetings and the rules for rescheduled ones, is covered in our guide to Open Door Law notice requirements.
Common questions
Does a technical failure void our meeting?
No. IC 5-14-1.5-2.9(g) says a technological failure that disrupts or prevents live streaming, recording, archiving, or maintaining a copy does not prevent the governing body from conducting the meeting, does not affect the validity of any action taken at it, does not violate the Open Door Law or any records statute, and does not subject any person to civil or criminal liability. Note what happened in the memoranda, finish the meeting, then fix the equipment.
How long must we keep the recording?
At least 90 days after the date of the meeting, available for public inspection and copying or downloading (IC 5-14-1.5-2.9(f)(1)). After the 90 days have passed, the statute expressly permits the public agency to destroy the transmission or recording (2.9(f)(2)). Many bodies keep archives longer as a service to residents, but 90 days is the statutory floor.
Do townships have to stream?
Yes. IC 5-14-1.5-2.9(b)(2)(A) applies the section to the executive, legislative body, and fiscal body of a county, city, town, or township. A township trustee holding a public meeting and a township board are both covered, alongside elected school boards and state agency governing bodies.
Do executive sessions have to be streamed?
No. IC 5-14-1.5-2.9(a)(1) expressly excludes meetings held under section 6.1 of the Open Door Law, which is the executive session provision. The section also does not apply to state educational institutions (2.9(a)(2)).
What if our body has no internet access?
IC 5-14-1.5-2.9(e) provides the fallback: a governing body that does not have internet capability for live transmission must record the meeting and retain the recording under subsection (f), meaning the same 90 day availability rule applies to the recording that would apply to an archived stream.
This article is educational information for Indiana public agencies, current as of the publication date. It is not legal advice, and statutes and court decisions change. Confirm specifics with your agency attorney. Statute text: iga.in.gov.