There shall be a County Council of Dorchester County, Maryland,
composed of five councilmembers.
All powers which may be exercised by the County under the Constitution and laws of the State are vested in the Council, subject to those powers retained by the people of the County as hereinafter set forth in Section 307 of this Charter.
In all functions and deliberations, the Council shall act as
a body. It shall have no power to create standing committees or to
delegate any of its functions and duties to a smaller number of its
members than the whole. The Council may, however, appoint special
ad hoc committees solely for the purpose of inquiry and fact finding.
(a)
The County shall be divided into five council districts. Until the boundaries of the five council districts are re-established pursuant to Section 213 of this Charter, the boundaries of the council districts shall be those that comprise the five commissioner districts from which members of the Board of County Commissioners are elected in November, 2002.
(b)
One councilmember shall be elected from each of the five council
districts.
(c)
Each councilmember shall be elected by the registered voters of the
council district in which the councilmember resides. The candidate
who receives the most votes in each council district shall be elected.
(a)
Each councilmember shall be a resident and a registered voter of
the County for at least one year immediately preceding election or
appointment. Each councilmember shall be a resident of the district
from which the councilmember is elected for at least six months immediately
preceding election or appointment.
(b)
While serving as a councilmember, no councilmember may hold any other
elected public office.
(c)
No councilmember may be employed in an appointed office or any non-elected
position in any public agency, department, board, commission, or other
public body that receives funds through the Budget or is involved
in the public business of the County, except that a councilmember
may be a paid employee of a municipal corporation or the federal or
State government.
(d)
No councilmember may receive compensation for serving in an appointed
office or any non-elected position in any public agency, department,
board, commission, or other public body that receives funds through
the Budget or is involved in the public business of the County, except
that a councilmember may be a paid employee of a municipal corporation
or the federal or State government.
(e)
A retired,former county employee receiving a pension shall not be
considered to be serving in a public body for purposes of this section
and shall be eligible to be a councilmember if all other provisions
of this section are satisfied.
A councilmember shall hold office for a term beginning at noon
on the first Monday of December next following the regular election
of the County Council and ending at noon on the first Monday of December
in the fourth year thereafter, or until a successor is qualified.
The Council shall prescribe by law the compensation for its
members. No change in the compensation of councilmembers shall become
effective during the term of office of the Council enacting the change.
(a)
A councilmember shall immediately forfeit office upon ceasing to
be (1) a registered voter of the County or (2) a resident of the council
district in which the councilmember resided when elected or appointed.
No councilmember may forfeit office by reason of a change in the boundaries
of any council district made during the councilmember's term
of office.
(b)
A councilmember shall immediately forfeit office upon being granted
probation before judgment for, upon the acceptance of a plea of nolo
contendere by a court to, or upon being convicted of a felony or a
crime involving moral turpitude.
A councilmember may be removed from office by an affirmative
vote of not less than three councilmembers after a public hearing
and a finding of misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office
or a finding of mental or physical disability that substantially impairs
the member's ability to perform the duties of office. The decision
of the County Council may, within 10 days of removal, be appealed
to the Circuit Court for the County by petition of the removed councilmember.
Upon filing of the petition, the court may stay the removal pending
the court's decision. Upon appeal, the court shall make de novo
determinations of fact.
(A)
A vacancy occurs when a councilmember, prior to the expiration of
the term for which elected, shall die, resign from office, become
disqualified to hold office, or be removed from office.
(B)
If a vacancy occurs in the office of the County Council before 180
days prior to the expiration of the term of a councilmember, the remaining
council members, shall, within thirty (30) days of the date of vacancy,
by Resolution, order a special election to fill the unexpired term
of such councilmember. The special election to fill the vacancy shall
be held within 120 days from the date of the vacancy.
[Amended 8-8-2006 by Res. No. 2006-5[1]]
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All candidates for election to fill the vacancy shall meet the
same qualification and residence requirements and when succeeding
a party member, shall be of the party as the councilmember who vacated
office and shall be elected by the voters from the same councilmanic
district as the councilmember whose office is vacated. Any person
so elected shall serve for the unexpired term of his predecessor in
office.
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[1]
Editor's Note: This resolution was approved at referendum
held 11-7-2006.
(C)
If a vacancy occurs in the office of the County Council within 180
days of the expiration of a term of a councilmember, the vacancy be
filled by appointment by the Dorchester County Central Committee of
the political party affiliated with the person who vacated the office,
when succeeding a party member, and if not succeeding a party member,
then the vacancy shall be filled by a committee of five persons appointed
by the County Council.
[Amended 8-8-2006 by Res. No. 2006-5]
Annually the Council shall elect from among its members a President
and Vice President of the Council. The President, or in the absence
of the President, the Vice President, shall preside over meetings
of the Council. The Council may provide for the selection of other
officers or employees as the Council may deem desirable for the exercise
of its powers.
The County Council may make investigations into the affairs
of the County and the conduct of any activity of the Government. For
this purpose, the Council may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths,
take testimony, and require the production of evidence.
(a)
Not later than April 1 of the year after each decennial census date,
the Council shall appoint a Commission on Redistricting. The central
committee of each political party that polled at least 25 percent
of the total vote cast for all the candidates for Council at the last
preceding general election shall nominate five persons to serve on
the Commission. Each such list shall include one person who resides
in each district. The Council shall appoint all such nominees as members
of the Commission as well as one additional member of the Commission.
The Council shall appoint the Chairperson of the Commission from among
the Commission members. No person shall be eligible for appointment
to the Commission who holds elective office.
(b)
By November 15 of the year before the year in which redistricting
is to take effect, the Commission shall present to the Council a plan
of council districts, together with a report explaining it. Within
30 days of receiving the plan of the Commission, the Council shall
hold a public hearing on the plan. If within 90 days after presentation
of the Commission's plan no other law reestablishing the boundaries
of the council districts has been enacted, then the plan, as submitted,
shall become law.
(c)
Any council district established in accordance with this section
shall be compact, contiguous, substantially equal in population, and
have common interests as a result of geography, occupation, history,
or existing political boundaries.
(d)
An ordinance establishing council districts shall be exempt from
referendum.
