The Council President presides at all meetings unless the Council
President is absent or excuses him or herself.
Pursuant to the Charter, three Council members constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business.
Voting on legislation is to be by roll call, except on procedural
motions. The ayes and nays must be recorded in the Council Journal.
Council members must be present during the roll call vote in order
to cast their vote.
A.
A bill is introduced by reading its title.
B.
A bill may be introduced on any legislative day by any one or more
Council members.
C.
Pursuant to the Charter, the Council may reject a bill upon its introduction
by an affirmative vote of at least four members.
D.
If a bill is not rejected upon its introduction, then the Council
President must schedule a public hearing on the bill. This requirement
does not apply to a bill in the form of a resolution if no law requires
it; however, a public hearing may be scheduled if it would serve the
public interest.
E.
The Council President may submit a bill to one or more County agencies,
boards or commissions, including the Council Attorney, County Attorney
and/or Special Counsel, for comment. Such submissions are to indicate
the date by which the agency, board or commission is to reply. Parties
in receipt of such submissions must supply whatever information the
parties believe the Council needs to evaluate the merits of the legislation.
F.
Pursuant to the Charter, within 72 hours of a bill's introduction,
a copy of the bill, with notice of the date, time, and place of its
public hearing, must be posted on the official bulletin board and
appear on the County website or otherwise be published by electronic
media. If circumstances require it, a scheduled public hearing may
be postponed to a later date, provided that public notice of both
the postponement and the subsequent hearing date are provided.
G.
Except for a bill in the form of a resolution or except as may be
provided by the Charter in regard to emergency legislation, a bill
cannot be enacted on the date of its introduction.
A bill that results in a law or ordinance cannot be adopted
unless it has been the subject of a public hearing.
A.
A bill that has not been scheduled for a public hearing by the Council
President may at any time be the subject of a petition demanding such
a hearing.
B.
A petition for a hearing may be made by motion by any Council member.
The motion is to include the date, time and place of the proposed
public hearing. The motion will stand adopted by an affirmative vote
of at least three Council members.
A.
Except for emergency legislation, no bill may be scheduled to be
heard sooner than three weeks after its introduction.
B.
Except as provided in this Policy, if the Council President has submitted
a bill to a County agency, board or commission for review, a public
hearing on the bill cannot be convened until the report has been received
by the Council President and distributed to the Council members. Copies
of any such reports shall be available to the public.
C.
If pursuant to this Policy an entity fails to report on a bill submitted
to it, a public hearing on the bill may be commenced by an affirmative
vote of at least three Council members, even in the absence of the
report.
The Department of Finance shall prepare a fiscal note on the
effects a bill may impose on the revenues, expenditures, liabilities,
or assets of the County. Such fiscal note is to be submitted to the
Council President and distributed to the Council members prior to
the bill's public hearing.
A.
Upon convening a public hearing, the presiding officer will ask the
bill sponsor, or designated staff from the administration, to give
a brief explanation of the purpose of the hearing.
B.
As needed, the presiding officer may require a witness to take an
oath prior to the witness giving testimony before the Council. The
oath is to be as follows: "Do you solemnly declare and affirm under
the penalties of perjury that the evidence you are about to give in
the matter now pending shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth?"
C.
Any member of the Council, upon recognition by the presiding officer,
may question any speaker or witness.
D.
A member may not initiate discussion or engage in debate without
the consent of the presiding officer.
A.
A bill may be amended any time after its public hearing.
B.
An amendment to a bill shall embrace a single subject only and its
subject shall not be different than the subject of the bill proposed
for amendment.
C.
An amendment to a bill cannot be combined with one or more amendments
to any other bill.
D.
A proposed amendment to a bill must be presented in writing before
it may be considered for adoption.
E.
In the event a bill is amended before enactment, and the amendment
or amendments constitute a substantial change of substance, the bill,
as amended, shall not be enacted into law until the bill meets the
public hearing, notice, and publication requirements of a newly introduced
bill.
F.
An additional public hearing is not required of an amended bill if
the amendment does not alter the substance of the legislation. Such
amendments may include a change in the sponsors of a bill, punctuation,
grammar, spelling, formatting, errors in section numbers, incorrect
references to existing law and improper capitalization, provided such
changes do not substantially alter a bill's substance.
G.
Legislation that is not intended to have the effect of law (e.g.,
a resolution) may be amended at any time. Unless otherwise required
by law, such a resolution is not required to have a public hearing
before the resolution, or the resolution's amendment, is adopted by
the Council. A public hearing on such a resolution may be scheduled
by the Council President at his or her discretion, or shall be scheduled
by the Council President with the affirmative vote of three Council
members.
A.
Only bills eligible for adoption by the Council under the applicable
provisions of law, the Charter, ordinance and/or these Policies and
Procedures may be scheduled for final reading.
B.
An amended bill on final reading cannot be adopted by the Council
until the bill is reprinted or reproduced as amended.
C.
A bill shall stand adopted by the Council when a bill scheduled for
final reading has been adopted by the Council with an affirmative
vote by the required number of members.
[Amended 10-20-2020 by Res. No. 57-2020]
D.
After adoption of a bill, and prior to its submission to the County
Executive, if required, the Council President may correct errors in
punctuation, grammar, spelling, formatting, errors in section numbers,
incorrect references to existing law, as well as improper capitalization,
provided such changes do not alter a bill's substance.
E.
The Council President shall certify an adopted bill. Thereafter,
and pursuant to any relevant provision of law, the Charter, and/or
ordinance, the President shall forward the certified bill to the County
Executive for further consideration within 10 business days after
adoption.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § A387-44, Request for return,
was repealed 9-19-2017.
A.
When a bill is vetoed by the County Executive and returned to the
Council pursuant to the Charter, the presiding officer must, at the
next legislative meeting of the Council, read the statement of the
County Executive to the Council that provides the reasons for the
veto. Said reasons are to be entered into the Council Journal.
B.
Pursuant to the Charter, not later than the next legislative meeting
immediately following the receipt of any vetoed legislation, the Council
may override the veto by the affirmative vote of at least four Council
members.
Pursuant to the Charter, the Council must cause a fair summary
of all laws enacted, amended, or repealed under this Charter to be
published promptly at least once in a newspaper of general circulation
in the County and on the County website or otherwise to be published
using electronic media.
A.
Council members may request assistance in drafting legislation from
the Council Manager.
B.
The Council Manager will provide research and draft text for legislation.
C.
When the Council member is satisfied with the draft, legislation
will be scheduled for introduction.
D.
All legislation will be reviewed by legal counsel for legal sufficiency.
Counsel may suggest revisions that the Council member may consider.
E.
All legislation will be numbered sequentially and given a title and
synopsis for introduction.
F.
At the time of introduction, the date of public hearing, if required,
date of posting, and date of consideration will be identified on the
title page.
G.
Legislation will be introduced under the Council member's sponsor.
Other Council members can request to co-sponsor legislation.
H.
The County Executive or others in the administration may submit legislation
to the Council.
I.
In the event a bill is amended before enactment, and the amendment
or amendments constitute a change of substance, the bill, as amended,
shall not be enacted into law until the bill meets the public hearing,
notice, and publication requirements of a newly introduced bill [Charter
Section 304(e)].
A.
The "law" is a statute or the entire sum of legislation, judicial
precedent and accepted legal principles, the body of authoritative
grounds of judicial and administrative action.
B.
In Cecil County, local "statutory authority" is comprised of the Charter, the Code of Cecil County, and certain ordinances, including the Zoning Ordinance, Subdivision Regulations, Ethics Code and Building Code. These are subject to Section 304 of the Charter, which specifies that the enactment of legislation shall be by bill. The enactment of a bill requires a public hearing, and bills adopted by the Council are subject to veto by the Executive.
C.
Resolutions are less formal than bills, and generally do not carry the force of law, or amend or repeal existing Cecil County laws or statutes. Resolutions are not subject to Section 304 of the Charter.
D.
Resolutions can be used to amend or add to the Master Water and Sewer
Plan, Personnel Policies and Procedures, and budget amendments. These
items have shared responsibility between the executive and legislation
branches and are subject to veto by the Executive.
E.
Certain Resolutions are exclusively within the Council's purview,
and are not subject to veto by the Executive, such as for example
the Council Policies and Procedures.
A.
Generally, a resolution may be introduced in one legislative session
and considered at the next legislative session.
B.
The Charter, state law, or local ordinance may require that certain
resolutions be subject to a public hearing, such as an amendment to
the Master Water and Sewer Plan.
C.
When a public hearing is not required for a resolution, the Council
may determine whether a public hearing will be scheduled at the time
of introduction in legislative session.
D.
At introduction, the Council may take action on a resolution that
all members agree that is straightforward and without controversy,
and with a unanimous vote.
E.
Resolutions that require a public hearing or are otherwise scheduled
for a public hearing at the Council's request will be scheduled for
consideration after introduction in order to provide sufficient time
to publish notice of the public hearing. Such notice will generally
be published one time per week for two consecutive weeks prior to
the hearing.
F.
Introduction, public hearing, and consideration of all resolutions
will be included in the agenda of the legislative session.
G.
Resolutions regarding the Master Water and Sewer Plan, Personnel
Policies and Procedures, and budget amendments are subject to veto
by the Executive.
