[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Mansfield 5-19-2015 ATM by Art. 21. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Reports — See Ch. 49.
A. 
The warrant for the Annual Town Meeting shall be closed on the first day of March preceding the Town Meeting. Warrants for Special Town Meetings will be closed at the discretion of the Select Board. The warrants for Town elections shall specify that the polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
B. 
A quorum at a Town Meeting shall consist of 200 registered voters, present in the meeting room, to open a Town Meeting, 100 registered voters, present in the meeting room, to open any adjourned session thereof, and 50 registered voters thereafter to continue the business of the Town Meeting, except such parts as are devoted exclusively to the election of Town officers, but a lesser number may organize and adjourn to some future time.
C. 
No person whose name does not appear upon the List of Registered Voters shall be admitted to the hall where a Town Meeting is being held, except with the permission of the Moderator. The Moderator shall require that any nonvoter admitted thusly sit apart from the voters.
A. 
Unless otherwise ordered by the Town Meeting, all votes shall be made by show of hands. If the hand vote is immediately questioned by seven or more voters, a count shall be made by tellers, who shall be appointed by the Moderator.
B. 
When an article requires a two-thirds vote, if they deems it obvious, the Moderator may declare a two-thirds vote without taking a standing count.
C. 
The Town Moderator, when required by law, or at their discretion, shall appoint tellers in a number necessary to provide for the required vote counts, should they be needed.
No action shall be taken at any Town Meeting on the report of any committee chosen at a previous meeting, other than to receive the report as one of information only, unless the subject of the report is specifically mentioned in the warrant for said meeting.
On questions involving special appropriations of $10,000 or more, a secret vote shall be taken and the checklist used, provided it is so moved previously to taking the vote and is supported by 25% of those present and voting.
[Amended 4-12-2016 ATM by Art. 19]
Except as otherwise procedurally voted by Town Meeting, the order of all articles in the Town Warrant shall be taken as printed in the warrant, which will be determined by the Select Board prior to Town Meeting.
All articles must be reconsidered in the same session of the Town Meeting in which they were voted upon. An article shall not be reconsidered until after the completion of three subsequent articles, or until the completion of a set of grouped related articles, if the group is more than three articles. In the case of a session ending prior to the completion of three articles, the Moderator must call for reconsideration prior to entertaining a motion to adjourn.
The Moderator may entertain motions without being seconded whenever in their judgment such procedure is consistent with good order and the proper transaction of business.
A. 
Whenever a question is under debate, the following motions shall have precedence in the order herein given:
(1) 
To adjourn (if a date of reassembling has been determined).
(2) 
To lay on table.
(3) 
To move the question (The main speaker cannot move their own question.).
(4) 
To amend.
(5) 
To postpone to a time certain.
(6) 
To postpone indefinitely.
B. 
Subsections A(2) and (3) are not debatable and must be recognized without comment from the Moderator or the floor, unless a clarification is requested by the Town Meeting.
The Town Meeting warrant, for all Town Meetings, shall be available to Town voters, at no cost, as soon as the warrant is closed, but not later than 10 business days prior to the Town Meeting. Copies of the warrant shall also be posted at a minimum of five public access locations in Town, including the Town Hall and library, and made available on the Town of Mansfield website. Preliminary budget figures must be made available at this time if final figures are not available.
At any Town Meeting, no warrant article not already on the floor shall be brought before the Town Meeting for consideration or deliberation after 11:00 p.m. Discussion and action may continue on any warrant article properly brought before the Town Meeting prior to 11:00 p.m. unless said Town Meeting, by a two-thirds vote, determines otherwise.
All requested amendments to warrant articles must be in writing, if the Moderator so directs. In order not to delay the Town Meeting process, the Moderator may request to postpone action on the amended article and proceed to the next warrant article to allow time for the written amendment to be served.