Rules Committee
Substitute
May 3, 2004
IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI
Title
A RESOLUTION amending Rules 2, 9, 17, and 19 of the Rules of the Jackson County Legislature.
Intro
RESOLUTION # 14966, March 29, 2004
INTRODUCED BY Robert A. Stringfield, County Legislator
Body
BE IT RESOLVED by the County Legislature of Jackson County, Missouri, that Rules 2, 9, 17, and 19 of the Legislatures Rules of Procedure be and hereby are amended as follows:
RULE TWO. Robert's Rules
Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised 10th Edition (2000) shall govern conduct of meetings of the Legislature except when the Charter, the Laws of Missouri or these Rules are to the contrary. The Clerk of the Legislature shall retain a copy of these Rules of Order.
RULE NINE. Standing and Special Committees.
A. Establishment. Subject to the provisions of paragraph B. of this Rule, the Standing Committees of the Legislature are:
Finance and Audit
Health and Justice
Land Use
Public Works
Anti-Drug
(6)
The Special Committees of the Legislature are:
(1) Inter-governmental affairs
Rules
B. Committee Responsibilities.
The responsibilities of the Standing and Special Committees of the Legislature are as follows:
Standing Committees
(1) Finance and Audit. Matters relating to the assessment and collection of taxes, county finances and management and geographic information systems, county purchasing policy, oversight of the county auditor's office and legal advisor to the Legislature, as set out in chapter 2 of the County Code, and acquisitions affecting multi-departmental or countywide operations.
(2) Health and Justice. Matters relating to the courts, Corrections Department, Sheriff's and Medical Examiner's Offices, and County health-related programs.
(3) Land Use. Matters relating to the Parks and Recreation Department, Harry S. Truman Sports Complex, and consideration of development permits and applications under the County's Unified Development Code.
(4) Public Works. Matters relating to the Public Works and Economic Development Departments,
(5) Anti-Drug. Matters relating to proposed policies concerning and expenditures out of the County's Anti-Drug Sales Tax Fund.
Special Committees
(1) Intergovernmental Affairs. Matters relating to the relationships between the County and the federal, state, and other local governments, including lobbying activity and oversight of the lobbyist to the Legislature as set out in chapter 2 of the County Code.
(2) Rules. Matters relating to the Rules of the Legislature.
C. Appointment and Membership.
The standing and special committees shall be filled by appointment by the fourth regular meeting of the Legislature each year. The Chair of the Legislature shall appoint a maximum of four Legislators to each standing committee. All committee appointments are effective until the first legislative meeting of the following year. The Chairman of the Legislature shall be a voting member of all committees.
D. Chair. When the Chair of the Legislature makes appointments to a standing or special committee, the Chair may designate one member as its chair. Such a designation does not preclude committee selection of its chair by a majority vote of committee members. If the Chair of the Legislature should not designate a standing or special committee chair, the committee shall elect its own chair. Such election precludes later designation by the Chair of the Legislature.
E. Vice-Chair. Each committee shall elect from its membership a vice-chair who shall preside in the absence of the chair.
F. Operations. The chair of the committee shall call and preside at all meeting of the committee. The chair of a committee will sign all reports of the committee. The chair of a committee will sign all reports of the committee submitted to the Legislature as a whole.
G. Attendance. The chair of each standing or special committee shall maintain membership attendance records. Whenever a Legislator shall be absent without excuse from
more than four consecutive regularly scheduled meetings of any committee to which the Legislator has been appointed, and said absences are duly noted in the minutes of that committee, the Legislator shall automatically be dropped from membership on the committee. The chair of the committee shall report such drops to the Chair of the Legislature and another member shall be appointed by the Chair of the Legislature within ten days. An absence is "excused" when the chair or a majority of the members then attending a meeting shall note their excusal of the absence in the minutes of that meeting or the next meeting immediately following that meeting.
H. Quorum. The quorum of a committee shall be a simple majority of those appointed to it.
I. Absence of Quorum, Procedure. When no quorum appears at the announced time of a meeting for a committee, the chair of the committee may request other members of the Legislature to participate as "quorum members" of the committee for that one meeting until a sufficient number of appointed members shall appear. A quorum member may act as a voting member of that committee for all purposes.
RULE SEVENTEEN. Ordinances - Perfection
A. The "perfection" of a proposal for ordinance is the act of making the proposal ready for final passage or defeat by putting the proposal in its final form. A proposal for ordinance is perfected by the approval of a majority of those present and voting on a "motion to perfect." Once perfected, a proposal for ordinance may not be amended. If a motion to perfect fails, the ordinance shall be dropped from the agenda of the Legislature.
B. Following the introduction of a proposal for ordinance, its short title (Rule Six) shall appear on the "perfection" docket of each succeeding meeting of the Legislature, together with the name of the committee to which it is assigned and the number of meetings at which it has appeared on the perfection docket. Until its perfection (as defined in paragraph A above) a proposal for ordinance is "awaiting perfection."
C. A committee to which a proposal for ordinance is assigned may require the presence of a sponsor of a proposal at its meetings before it considers the proposal. Likewise, a committee may request the presence of department head of the county which a proposal may affect before it considers the proposal.
D. A committee to which a proposal for ordinance is assigned may:
(1) Accept the proposal in the form approved by the Counselor;
(2) Amend the proposal; or
(3) Substitute a new draft of the proposal
A committee may
(1) Take no action;
(2) Return the proposal to the Legislature with no recommendation;
(3) Recommend that the Legislature not perfect the proposal;
(4) Recommend that the Legislature do perfect the proposal, the proposal as amended, or its substituted draft of the proposal.
E. Amendments by a committee or substitution of a new draft by a committee shall not be contrary to or beyond the scope of the short title of the proposal.
F. If a committee's vote on a motion to recommend "do perfect" is a tie, the motion is defeated, and the proposal shall be returned to the Legislature with no recommendation.
G. Copies of any proposal for ordinance which has been amended in committee shall show the amendments by bracketing any words which the amendment deletes and underlining any words which the amendment adds. Committee chairs shall have the responsibility of providing a sufficient number of copies of any proposal for ordinance so amended to the Legislature at the regular meeting at which it is reported out of committee. Neither a committee nor the Legislature as a whole may take action on an ordinance amended in committee or on the floor of the Legislature until the amendment has been reduced to writing as set out in this paragraph, at a minimum via pen and ink.
H. Upon receipt of a report of "do not perfect" or upon a receipt of a report of "no recommendation," the Legislature may not act on the proposal until a member of the Legislature moves that the proposal for ordinance be perfected.
RULE NINETEEN. Resolutions - Introduction and Assignment to Committee.
A. Proposals for resolutions shall be introduced by members by first submitting a written draft of the proposal, including short title, to the Clerk. The Clerk shall then assign a number to the proposal and place it on the agenda for the next regular meeting. Upon the reading of the short title at the meeting, the sponsoring member or members may briefly explain the purpose and application of the proposal.
B. Unless immediately adopted, proposals for resolutions shall be assigned to the appropriate committee by the Chair of the Legislature. If a sponsor of a resolution objects to the committee assignment, that member may move for reassignment to some other designated committee. Passage of such a motion requires a two-thirds majority of those present and voting.
C. If a Resolution is assigned to committee, the committee may:
(1) Accept the resolution in the form approved by the Counselor;
(2) Amend the resolution; or
(3) Substitute a new draft of the resolution.
A committee may:
(1) Take no action;
(2) Return the resolution to the Legislature with not recommendation;
(3) Recommend that the Legislature do not pass the resolution; or
(4) Recommend that the Legislature do pass the resolution, the resolution as amended, or its substituted draft of the resolution.
D. Amendments by a committee or substitution of a new draft by a committee shall not be contrary to or beyond the scope of the short title of the resolution.
E. If a committee's vote on a motion to recommend "do pass" is a tie, the motion is defeated, and the proposal shall be returned to the Legislature with no recommendation.
F. Copies of any resolution which has been amended in committee shall show the amendments by bracketing any words which the amendment deletes and underlining any words which the amendment adds. Committee chairs shall have the responsibility of providing a sufficient number of copies of any resolution so amended to the Legislature at the regular meeting at which it is reported out of committee. Neither a committee nor the Legislature as a whole may take action on a resolution amended in committee or on the floor of the Legislature until the amendment has been reduced to writing as set out in this paragraph, at a minimum via pen and ink.
Enacted and Approved
Effective Date: This Resolution shall be effective immediately upon its passage by a majority of the Legislature.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
____________________________ ___________________________________
Acting County Counselor Deputy County Counselor
Certificate of Passage
I hereby certify that the attached resolution, Resolution #14966 of March 29, 2004 was duly passed on __________May 3_____________________, 2004 by the Jackson County Legislature. The votes thereon were as follows:
Yeas ________6_________ Nays _____0______
Abstaining _____0______ Absent _____3_______
______________________ _____________________________________
Date Mary Jo Spino, Clerk of Legislature