This Charter shall become effective on the thirtieth calendar
day following its adoption.
The Public Local Laws of Talbot County and all rules, regulations,
resolutions, and ordinances of the County Commissioners in force at
the time of the effective date of this Charter are repealed to the
extent that they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter,
but no further; and to the extent that they are not repealed because
of inconsistency, all public local laws, rules, regulations, resolutions,
and ordinances shall continue in full force and effect until repealed
or amended.
All appointed officers and employees of the County government
holding office at the effective date of this Charter shall continue
to be employed at their existing compensation subject to the provisions
of this Charter.
All reference in the Constitution and the laws of this State
to the County Commissioners, at such time as the elected members of
the first Council take office, shall be construed to refer to the
Council if this construction is reasonable. The Council shall succeed
to all powers vested heretofore in the County Commissioners by the
Constitution and laws of this State.
Amendments to this Charter may be proposed by legislative act
of the Council approved by not less than four-fifths of the members
of the full Council. Amendments may also be proposed by petition filed
with the Board of Supervisors of Elections of Talbot County and signed
by not less than twenty percentum of the registered voters of the
County, or 10,000 of the registered voters in case twenty per centum
of the number of registered voters is greater than 10,000. When so
proposed, whether by legislative act of the Council or by petition,
the question shall be submitted to the voters of the County at the
next general or Congressional election occurring after the passage
of the act or the filing of the petition. If at the election the majority
of votes cast on the question are in favor of the proposed amendment,
the amendment stands enacted from and after the thirtieth calendar
day following the election. Any amendments to this Charter shall be
published by the Council in at least one newspaper of general circulation
published in the County for five successive weeks prior to the election
at which the question is considered by the voters of the County.
