[HISTORY Adopted by the County Council of Wicomico County 2-1-1965.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
Meetings. Regular meetings shall be held annually on
the first day of February, the first day of June and the first day of October
and also on the 13th day of February, June and October, excluding Saturdays,
Sundays and legal holidays, of each year. In the event that either the first
or the 13th day of each of said months falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal
holiday, the County Council may, by a majority vote, schedule the legislative
day on the day before or the day after such Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.
Any meeting may adjourn to a time not later than the next regular meeting.
The place of meetings shall be the County Council Chamber, Salisbury, Maryland,
and the time of meetings shall be 10:00 a.m., unless otherwise ordered by
the Council. The President of the County Council shall have the authority
to call special meetings of the Council.
[Amended 2-1-1983; 2-19-1985
by Res. No. 285]
B.
Presiding officer. The President shall be the presiding
officer. In the absence of the President, the duties of the presiding officer
shall be performed by the Vice President. In the absence of both, the members
present shall elect a temporary presiding officer to function during such
absence.
C.
Quorum. A majority of the members in office shall constitute
a quorum.
D.
Decision of questions of order. The President shall decide
questions of order subject to an appeal to the Council by any member.
E.
Committees and hearings. There shall be no standing or
other committees or committee of the whole. The Council may hold hearings
at any time ordered by the Council other than during a regular meeting or
any adjourned meeting thereof.
F.
Journal. The Secretary shall keep a brief, accurate daily
journal of the proceedings of the Council, including every vote and the roll
call by yeas and nays, if any, thereon. In addition to the title of a bill,
only amendments of the bill adopted shall be entered in the journal, except
that amendments offered but not adopted shall be entered if a vote on roll
call by yeas and nays was had thereon. After correction, the journal shall
stand approved without motion.
G.
Yea and nay votes. A vote on roll call by yeas and nays
shall be had where required by other provisions of these rules and on any
other vote on demand of any member.
The order of business at all regular meetings shall be as follows:
A.
Statement of motions. When a motion has been made and
seconded, the President shall state it, but it may be withdrawn by the mover.
B.
Written motions. Any motion shall be reduced to writing
if the President or any other member requests it.
C.
Motions on question under debate.
(2)
Such motions shall have precedence in the order above
stated, and none shall be debatable except a motion to amend or to amend that
amendment. A majority vote of members present shall be required for adoption
of any such motion, except that a four-fifths vote of the members in office
shall be required for adoption of a motion to close debate. After adoption
of a motion to close debate, all incidental questions or order, whether on
appeal or otherwise, shall be decided without debate. A motion to amend the
title of a bill shall not be in order until the bill has been considered in
full on call for final reading. A motion to strike out the enacting clause
of a bill or to postpone indefinitely shall not be in order.
A.
Heading. The heading of a bill shall be as follows: County
Council for Wicomico County, Maryland Legislative Session (first, second,
third) (year)
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Introduced (date)
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By Mr. (member's last name)
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An Act (title)
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B.
Title. The title shall be a succinct reference to the
general subject of the bill.
C.
Enacting clause. The enacting clause shall read "Be it
enacted by the County Council of Wicomico County, Maryland." The enacting
clause shall appear following the title and not be repeated in whole or in
part thereafter.
D.
Numbering of sections. Sections of a bill shall be numbered
in arabic numerals (for example, Section 1).
E.
Amendments of existing law. A bill for amendment of a
section of a public local law may amend the section "to read as follows,"
repeating in full the section as proposed to be amended or may strike out,
insert or strike out and insert without repeating in full the section proposed
to be amended.
A.
Introduction of bills. Bills may be introduced by any
member at any meeting on call for introduction of bills during the first five
days of each session, except emergency legislation as provided in Article
III, Section 308 (g) of the Charter. A member may not introduce a bill by
request, but on order of the Council a proposed bill may be printed and may
be set for hearing. A bill as introduced shall be printed, multilithed, mimeographed,
photocopied or typewritten and shall be in the form provided in Rule IV. No
bill shall be received for introduction unless the Secretary has certified
on the copy introduced that 25 copies are immediately available for distribution
to the public and to the press. On receipt from a member of a bill for introduction
by him, the Secretary shall cause such number of copies (not less than 25)
as he deems necessary to be prepared in proper form and, when prepared, shall
deliver a copy with his certificate to the member for introduction. On introduction,
the Secretary shall make copies available for distribution to the public and
the press and shall promptly post one copy on the official bulletin board,
distribute one copy to each member and prepare an advertisement in a newspaper
published in Wicomico County, Maryland, providing the time, place and date
of public hearing on said bill, which hearing shall not be held within three
days of the date of its introduction, unless such public hearing has been
held prior thereto by said Council sitting in Executive Session as provided
in Article IV, Section 403 (d) of the Charter.
B.
Reprinting of bills. After introduction, no bill shall be reproduced at any stage until finally passed unless otherwise ordered by the Council. Amendments may be offered orally (subject to Rule III, Subsection B) or in printed, multilithed, mimeographed, photocopied or typewritten form.
C.
Reading of bills. There shall be a first reading and
a final reading of each bill. On first reading a bill shall be read by number
and title only when introduced and on final reading a bill shall, at the request
of any member, be read once (and only once) section by section for amendment
before vote on final passage and, if amended, shall, at the request of any
member, be read as amended before vote on final passage. Vote on final passage
shall be on roll call by yeas and nays.
D.
Call of bills for final reading. On call of bills for
final reading, bills eligible for passage under Article III, Section 308 (e)
and (f) of the Charter shall be called in order of number (starting with the
lowest number), except that on call for final reading and when no other bill
is undergoing final reading at the time, a bill may, by majority vote, be
made a special order for immediate final reading. After vote on final passage,
no bill, whether passed or failing of passage, shall be further considered
during the same legislative session, except by consent of all members of the
Council present.
E.
Enrolled copy. After passage of a bill, the Secretary
shall promptly prepare an enrolled copy in printed or typewritten form which,
when certified by the Secretary, shall be presented to the President who shall
lay it before the Council. On demand of two members of the Council (but not
otherwise), the enrolled copy shall be read for correction of errors in enrolling.
The President in Legislative Session shall certify the enrolled copy (or such
copy as corrected) as being the text as finally passed, and the copy so certified
by the President shall be conclusive evidence of the bill as enacted, and
such copy shall be maintained by the Secretary in his office in an official
file of Acts of the County Council. On enrolling, the Secretary shall have
authority to correct obvious errors in section references and numbers and
references to existing law, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, grammar,
headings and similar matters.
A.
These rules may be suspended in whole or in part by a
vote of 4/5 of the members of the Council in office, except where failure
to observe the rule would be contrary to the requirements of the Charter or
other law. These rules may be amended by a majority vote of the members of
the Council in office at any regular meeting on notice of the amendment proposed
at a meeting at least one week prior.
B.
These rules shall continue in effect from session to
session and year to year without necessity for readoption at each subsequent
session.
