County Board Rules

d) Communications and Referrals

e) Persons to be heard from the floor

f) Report of Standing Committees

g) Report of Special Committees

h) Unfinished Business

i) New business and Resolutions

Quorum - Thirteen members shall constitute a quorum of the Board.

The Rules contained in Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the Board in all cases to which they are applicable, and in which they are not inconsistent with the rules of the Board including, but not limited to the following rules:

a) The Chairman shall preserve order and decorum and decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to the Board without debate.

b) No Member shall have the privilege of the floor until he shall rise and respectfully address the Chair and be recognized.

c) When two or more Members shall rise at the same time, the Chair shall name the member first to speak.

d) No Member shall speak to a question for more than five (5) minutes at the first time and no Member may speak twice on the same question until all Members who wish to be heard have spoken. A Member may speak no more than five (5) minutes the second time unless granted permission by the Chair.

e) No Member shall absent himself before formal close of the day's session, unless excused by the Chairman of the Board.

f) A Member may abstain from voting on any issue, provided that an abstaining Member shall not be counted as a voting Member for any purpose. No Member shall pass a vote.

g) No motion shall be debated before it has been seconded. When seconded, it shall be stated by the Chair before being debated and every such motion shall be reduced to writing and made a part of the Board's minutes stating the name of the moving Member and seconder.

h) After a motion is stated by the Chair or read by the Clerk, it shall be deemed to be in the possession of the Board, but may be withdrawn by the mover on consent of the second at any time previous to an amendment or decision thereon.

i) A roll call vote shall be called on any motion upon the demand of any one Member.

j) The Clerk shall call the name of Members in alphabetical order when calling the roll or when polling a vote, except that beginning with the month of March, 1988 and every 2nd meeting thereafter, the Clerk shall call the names in reverse alphabetical order. The Chair shall be called last at all meetings.

k) A motion to reconsider can be made only at the same meeting and by a Member voting with the majority.

l) A motion to adjourn shall always be in order and shall be decided without debate, unless a question to extend the time to adjourn shall occur.

m) No alteration shall be made in any of the rules of the Board without the consent of a majority of the Members, nor without two weeks notice being given prior to the motion. The rules may be suspended in any particular case, by vote of two-thirds of the Members voting.

Regular meetings of the Board shall commence promptly at 7:30 P.M. and shall end by 10:30 P.M. unless extended by majority vote of the Members present.

Meetings shall be the third Wednesday of each month. The Agenda, Board Minutes, Committee Reports and a compilation of bills to be paid shall be printed and mailed to Board Members not less than five (5) days prior to regular Board meetings.

Regular meetings of the Board shall be held on the third Wednesday of each month and when called by the Chairman. Special meetings shall be held when requested by at least one-third of the Members of the Board, which request shall be in writing, addressed to the Clerk of the Board, and specifying the time and place of such meeting. The Clerk shall then give notice of such special meeting to Members and to the general public as required by law. Smoking is not allowed during the sessions of the Board.

Not less than one week prior to the Organization Meeting of the County Board, Members shall hold their respective political caucuses. Each caucus shall select three of its Members to serve on an Ad Hoc Rules Committee. It shall be the responsibility of the Ad Hoc Rules Committee to recommend to the Chairman of the County Board elected at the organization meeting members for each standing committee and bipartisan appointments of committee chairmanships. Independent Members may submit recommendations for committee memberships and committee chairmen to the Ad Hoc Rules Committee. No Member may serve six (6) consecutive years on more than one committee.

The Ad Hoc Rules Committee shall submit its recommendations for committee memberships and committee chairmen in writing to the Chair of the County Board elected at the organization meeting of the Board.

The Chairman, following the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee insofar as possible, shall thereupon appoint Members and Chairmen of all standing committees of the Board subject to the consent of the Board expressed by roll call vote.

Executive or closed sessions of the Board and of all committees and subcommittees of the Board shall only be held when required by federal or state regulation or when requested by legal counsel to discuss present or probable litigation involving the County. A meeting or a portion thereof may be closed upon a majority vote of Members present, taken at a meeting open to the public for which notice had been given, as required by law. The vote of each Member, on the question of holding a closed session and a citation to the specific reason(s) for closing the meeting, shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the meeting. Separate minutes shall be kept of closed meetings. Such minutes shall include, but not be limited to:

a) The date, time and place of the meeting.
     b) The Members recorded as either present or absent.
     c) A general description of all matters proposed, discussed or decided upon and a record of 
        any votes taken.

Minutes of meetings closed to the public shall be available only after the Board determines that it is no longer necessary to protect the public interest by keeping them confidential. In order that the public may have access at the earliest practicable time to minutes of closed meetings, the Clerk shall annually report to the Board on confidential records maintained, including therein advice as to which minutes may then prudently be made available to the public. No final action may be taken in closed session.

The Chairman, with the advice of the Rules/Executive Committee, shall prepare an agenda for each regular and special meeting of the Board. The agenda shall be in writing and shall be distributed to Board Members and made available to the public and to the news media not less that five (5) days prior to the meeting for which the agenda is prepared.

a) The agenda shall be sufficiently itemized to apprize Members and the public of the matters to be considered by the Board.

b) Matters to be placed on the agenda shall be communicated to the Chairman in writing not less than seven days prior to the meeting for which the agenda is to be prepared. Only Members shall have the right to have matters placed on the agenda.

c) A matter not on the agenda may be considered upon motion being made, seconded and passed by two-thirds (2/3) of the Members voting.

New matters presented to the Board shall be stated in writing and shall be referred to the appropriate committees by the Chairman without debate. Any matter can be considered by the Board at any time upon a motion being made, seconded and passed by two-thirds (2/3) of the Members voting.  No final action may be taken on items not on the published agenda.

At the first regular meeting of the Board in the month of December following the County Board election, the Board shall elect from its membership, a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman who shall be nominated and voted upon separately.

The person receiving a majority of the votes of the Members voting shall be elected. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman shall each be elected for a term of two (2) years or until their successors are elected and qualified.

It shall be the Chairperson’s responsibility to preside over the meetings of the Board, to appoint the Committees of the Board with the advice of the Rules Committee, to compile the agenda for Board meetings and perform such other duties as the Board may assign from time to time .

It shall be the Vice Chairperson’s responsibility to preside over the meetings of the Board in the absence of the Chairperson and to perform such other duties as the Board may assign from time to time.

No claim or bill shall be submitted to the County Board until such claim or bill has been submitted first to the Deputy county Administrator. Each Member shall be provided with a list of the monthly claims and it shall not be necessary, therefore, for the claims to be read.