(A) 
Composition:
The “City Council” shall be composed of a “Mayor” and six “Councilmembers” residing within six (6) single member districts. There shall be one Councilmember elected by the voters in each of six (6) Council districts. The Mayor shall be elected at large.
(B) 
Eligibility:
Only qualified voters of the City and residing within the respective district as provided herein shall be eligible to hold the office of Council for each district. Only qualified voters residing in the City, as provided herein, shall be eligible to hold the office of the Mayor.
(C) 
Date of Election:
The regular election of Councilmembers and Mayor shall be held on the first Saturday in May or on a uniform date as provided by the TEXAS ELECTION CODE.
(D) 
Run Off:
In the event no candidate for a given office shall have received the necessary majority, the City Council shall, at the first regular Council meeting following the completion of the official canvass, call a run off election to be held in accordance with the requirements of the TEXAS ELECTION CODE, not less than twenty (20) nor more than thirty (30) days after the final canvass of the regular election. At the run off election, the ballot shall list in that order the names of the two candidates receiving at the first election the first and second highest number of votes for a given office. Should one of the candidates withdraw, die or become ineligible, a second election shall not be held and the other shall be declared elected to office.
(E) 
Term of Office:
At the first election under this Charter, the Councilmembers from odd numbered districts, being 1, 3 and 5 shall be elected for a three (3) year term. At the second election under this Charter, Councilmembers from even numbered districts, being Districts 2, 4 and 6 shall be elected for a three (3) year term and the Mayor shall be elected for a four (4) year term. Thereafter, all Councilmembers and the Mayor shall be elected for a three (3) year term and until their successors have been elected and duly qualified.
In addition to any other qualifications prescribed by law, the Mayor and each Councilmember shall:
(1) 
be residents of the City for one (1) year; and
(2) 
have resided in their district for a minimum of one (1) year prior to the date of the election and shall reside in that district during the term of office.
In the event that a citizen’s residence is changed solely as a result of an approved redistricting plan in accordance with law, the one (1) year district residency requirement shall not apply.
The City Council shall serve without compensation. The City Council shall be entitled to reimbursement for actual expenses incurred in the performance of official duties.
(A) 
The names of candidates for City Councilmember and Mayor shall be placed on the official ballot upon the filing of a petition, in accordance with the TEXAS ELECTION CODE, with the City Secretary stating the candidate has resided in the City of Lancaster for a period of at least one year prior to such election. If filing for a Council district, the candidate must have also resided within the district for which the candidate is filing for a period of at least one (1) year prior to such election, except as provided herein. The petition shall be signed, in addition to the candidate, by twenty-five (25) qualified voters residing within the district for which the candidate is seeking election, or in the case of the Mayor, twenty-five (25) qualified voters of the City. Upon filing, such name shall be printed upon the official ballot. The order in which the names of the candidates for City Council shall appear on the ballot shall be determined by lot, in a drawing held under the supervision of the City Secretary.
(B) 
If a member of the Council shall file as a candidate for nomination or election to any public office other than his current office on the City Council, such candidacy shall constitute an automatic resignation.
(A) 
The Mayor shall preside at all meetings of the City Council, and shall be recognized as head of the City government for all ceremonial purposes, and by the Governor for purposes of military law, but shall have no regular administrative duties. The Mayor may participate in the discussion of all matters coming before the City Council. The Mayor shall be entitled to vote as a member thereof on all legislative or other matters. He shall sign resolutions/ordinances and conveyances made or entered into by the City and all bonds issued under the provisions of this Charter; and such other documents that he/she may be authorized by Council or by law. The Mayor shall not have power to veto any legislative or other matter.
(B) 
The City Council shall elect a Mayor Pro Tem and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem at the first meeting as provided herein.
(C) 
The Mayor Pro-Tem shall be a Councilmember elected by the City Council at the first regular meeting after each election of Councilmembers and/or Mayor. The Mayor Pro-Tem shall act as Mayor during the disability or absence of the Mayor, and in this capacity shall have the rights conferred upon the Mayor.
(D) 
The Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem shall be a Councilmember elected by the City Council at the first regular meeting after each election of Councilmembers and/or Mayor. The Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem shall act as Mayor during the disability or absence of the Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem, and in this capacity shall have the rights conferred upon the Mayor.
(A) 
The office of a Councilmember or the Mayor shall become vacant upon his/her death, resignation, forfeiture of, or removal from office by any manner authorized by law.
(B) 
Any person on the City Council who ceases to possess the required qualifications for office or who is convicted of a felony or is convicted of violating any State laws regulating conflicts of interest of municipal officers shall forfeit his/her office. Every forfeiture shall be declared and enforced by the City Council.
(C) 
If there is a vacancy in the office of Mayor, a new Mayor shall be elected as provided by state law.
(D) 
A vacancy in the office of any Councilmember shall be filled by special election in accordance with the TEXAS ELECTION CODE. If the vacated office is that of Mayor Pro-Tem (or Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem), the City Council shall elect a new Mayor Pro-Tem (or Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem) at the next regular meeting.
(E) 
Vacancies filled by special election shall be for the remainder of the term that was vacated.
(A) 
The City Council shall have all powers necessary and incident to the proper discharge of the duties imposed upon it and is hereby invested with all powers necessary to carry out the terms of this Charter; it being intended that the City Council and Mayor shall have and exercise all powers enumerated in this Charter or implied thereby and all powers that are or hereafter may be granted to municipalities by this Charter, the Constitution or laws of the State of Texas.
(B) 
Any member of the City Council shall have the unabridged right to place an item on the agenda of a duly convened meeting of the Council; nothing contained in this Charter shall be construed to limit or circumscribe such right.
(C) 
During each calendar year, the City Council shall undertake one (1) annual review of the performance of the City Manager in writing. The City Manager shall be responsible for implementing annual performance reviews for all other employees of the City, except the City Secretary and other Council appointed positions.
(D) 
All powers of the City and the determination of all matters of policy shall be vested in the City Council. Except where in conflict with and otherwise expressly provided by this Charter, the City Council shall have all powers authorized to be exercised by the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas and as set forth in this Charter. Without limitation of the foregoing and among the other powers that may be exercised by the City Council, the following are hereby enumerated for greater certainty:
(1) 
Appoint and remove the City Manager;
(2) 
Appoint and remove the Municipal Judge(s) of the Municipal Court;
(3) 
Appoint and remove the City Attorney; and other special legal counsel;
(4) 
Appoint and remove the City Secretary;
(5) 
Establish administrative departments;
(6) 
Establish an ad valorem tax levy and adopt the budget of the City;
(7) 
Inquire into the conduct of any office, department or agency of the City and make investigations as to municipal affairs through the City Manager;
(8) 
Exercise, individually and collectively, all of the powers and authority as provided in Article II of this Charter.
(A) 
Except where authorized by law or by this Charter, no Mayor or Councilmember shall hold any other City office or City employment during his or her term as Mayor or Councilmember. No former Mayor or Councilmember shall hold any compensated appointive office or City employment until one (1) year after the expiration of the term for which they were elected or appointed to the City Council.
(B) 
Members of the City Council shall not in any way dictate the appointment or removal of the City administrative officers or employees whom the City Manager or any of the City Manager’s subordinates are empowered to appoint. The City Council, at a meeting called for that purpose, may express its views and fully and freely discuss with the City Manager anything pertaining to appointment and removal of such officers and employees.
(C) 
Except for the purpose of inquiries and investigations as provided by this Charter, the City Council shall deal with City officers and employees who are subject to the direction and supervision of the City Manager solely through the City Manager. The City Council shall not give orders to any such officer or employee either publicly or privately except as otherwise provided in this Charter.
The City Council shall have the power to inquire into the official conduct of any department, agency, office, officer or employee of the City. For that purpose, the City Council shall have the power to administer oaths, subpoena witnesses and compel the production of books, papers or other evidence material to the inquiry. The City Council shall provide, by ordinance, penalties for contempt for failing or refusing to obey any such subpoena or to produce any such books, papers or other evidence, and shall have the power to punish any such contempt in the manner provided by the ordinance.
(A) 
Regular Meetings:
The City Council shall hold at least one (1) regular meeting each month and as many additional meetings as it deems necessary to transact the business of the City. The City Council shall fix by ordinance, the date and time of the regular meetings.
(B) 
Special Meetings:
Special meetings of the City Council shall be held at the call of the Mayor or a majority of the Councilmembers upon provision of public notice in accordance with State law.
(C) 
Open Meetings:
All meetings of the City Council shall be held in public as provided by State law.
(D) 
Quorum:
Four (4) Councilmembers or three (3) Councilmembers and the Mayor shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of transaction of business. No action of the City Council, except as specifically provided in this Charter, shall be valid or binding unless adopted by the affirmative vote of a majority of the City Council present. In no event shall any ordinance, resolution or official action be approved except by an affirmative vote of at least four (4) Councilmembers or three (3) Councilmembers and Mayor.
(E) 
Minutes, Resolutions, Ordinances and Records:
Minutes of all proceedings shall be kept, to which any citizen may have access at all reasonable times and which shall constitute one of the archives of the city. All adopted ordinances or resolutions, shall be and kept [sic] in the archives of the City and shall be authenticated by the signature of the presiding officer and the City Secretary.
In case of disaster when a legal quorum of the City Council cannot be assembled due to multiple deaths or injuries, the surviving members of the City Council, or the highest surviving city official if no elected official remains, must, within twenty-four (24) hours of such disaster, or as soon as practicable, take such action as to ensure the basic health, safety and welfare of the citizens and undertake whatever action is necessary under the laws of the State of Texas to call for a special election. Until such election is held and Council qualified, the remaining members or highest ranking officer if no elected official remains, shall only undertake those actions necessary to protect the basic health, safety and welfare of the citizens which such action may be subsequently ratified by the full City Council.
Should any person on the City Council have a conflict of interest, pursuant to any State laws and/or City ordinances regulating conflicts of interest of municipal officers, with an agenda item then before the City Council, he or she shall openly declare same before discussion proceeds, and he or she is thereby prohibited from discussing the item or voting on the question, and is not considered as present and voting for the purposes of the tally, and must file appropriate conflict interest statement with the City Secretary.
Should any person on the City Council choose to abstain from voting on any question before the City Council, where no conflict of interest exists, the person’s vote shall be recorded as a vote in favor of the prevailing side of the question.
The City Council shall determine, within ninety (90) days following the May election, its own rules of order and business. The City Council shall provide that the citizens of the City shall have a reasonable opportunity to clearly hear and be heard at public hearings with regard to specific matters under consideration. The City Council shall provide for minutes to be taken and recorded for all public meetings as required by law. Such minutes shall be a public record and shall be kept and maintained by the person performing the duties of the City Secretary.
(A) 
The City Council shall legislate by ordinance only, and the enacting clause of every ordinance shall be “Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Lancaster, Texas ..”. Each proposed ordinance shall be introduced in the written or printed form required for adoption. No ordinance shall contain more than one (1) subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title. General appropriation ordinances, or ordinances authorizing the contracting of indebtedness or issuance of bonds or other evidence of indebtedness may contain various subjects and accounts for which monies are to be appropriated. After adoption, an ordinance shall not be amended or repealed except by the adoption of another ordinance amending or repealing the original ordinance. Copies of any proposed ordinance, in the form required for adoption, shall be furnished to the City Council. Copies of the proposed ordinance, in the form required for adoption, shall be available at the City offices and shall be furnished to citizens upon request to the City Secretary from and after the date on which such proposed ordinance is posted as an agenda item for a City Council meeting; and if amended, shall be available and furnished in amended form for as long as the proposed ordinance is before the City Council.
(B) 
Every ordinance shall become effective upon adoption or at any later time(s) specified in the ordinance, except that every ordinance imposing any penalty, fine or forfeiture shall become effective only after having been published once in its entirety or summary from after adoption, in a newspaper designated as the official newspaper of the City.
(A) 
The City Council may adopt emergency ordinances only to meet public emergencies affecting life, health, property or the public peace. In particular, such ordinances shall not levy taxes, grant or renew or extend a franchise, or regulate the rate charged by any public utility for its services. Neither shall they authorize the borrowing of money except as provided elsewhere in this Charter.
(B) 
An emergency ordinance shall be introduced in the form and manner generally prescribed for ordinances, except that they shall be plainly designated in the title as an emergency ordinance and shall contain, after the enacting clause, a declaration stating that an emergency exists and describing the emergency in clear and specific terms.
(C) 
An emergency ordinance may be introduced at any City Council meeting and can be adopted with or without amendment or rejected at the meeting at which it is introduced. The affirmative vote of at least four (4) Councilmembers shall be required for adoption.
(D) 
Emergency ordinances shall become effective upon adoption and shall be published as soon thereafter as practicable. Every emergency ordinance so adopted, except one authorizing the borrowing of money as described herein, is automatically repealed as of the sixty-first (61st) day following the day on which it became effective. The ordinance may be re-enacted if the emergency still exists or otherwise in accordance with this Charter.
(A) 
All ordinances and resolutions adopted by the City Council shall be authenticated by seal and signature of the person performing the duties of the City Secretary and numbered consecutively as adopted. They shall be properly indexed and placed in a book kept open for public inspection.
(B) 
The City Council may maintain the codification of ordinances of the City. This codification shall be known and cited as “The Lancaster City Code” and shall be in full force and effect without the necessity of such code or any part thereof being published in any newspaper. The caption, descriptive clause and other formal parts of the ordinances of the City may be omitted without affecting the validity of such ordinances when codified. Every general ordinance enacted subsequent to such codification shall be enacted as an amendment to the code. For the purpose of this section, general ordinances shall be deemed to be those ordinances of a permanent or continuing nature which affect the residents of the City at large. Copies of the code shall be furnished to City Officers, placed in City offices and made available for purchase by the public at a reasonable price to be fixed by the City Council.
(C) 
The City Council shall cause all ordinances and amendments to this Charter to be printed promptly following their adoption. A copy of each ordinance and amendment shall be placed in appropriate City offices for public reference. Printed ordinances and Charter amendments shall be sold to the public at a reasonable price to be fixed by the City Council.
The City Council shall require bonds of all municipal officers and employees who receive or pay out any monies of the City. The amount of the bonds shall be determined by the City Council and the cost shall be borne by the City.
(A) 
The City Council shall create, establish or appoint, as may be required by the laws of the State of Texas or this Charter, or deemed desirable by the City Council, such boards, commissions and committees as it deems necessary to carry out the functions and obligations of the City. The City Council shall, by ordinance or resolution, prescribe the purpose, composition, function, duties, accountability and tenure of each board, commission and committee where such are not prescribed by law or this Charter.
(B) 
The City Council may appoint persons to serve on one (1) or more boards, commissions or committees. Such appointees shall serve at the pleasure of the City Council and may be removed at the discretion of the City Council. Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, members of any such board, commission or committee shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for actual expenses as approved by the City Council.
(C) 
All boards, commissions or committees of the City shall keep and maintain minutes of any proceedings held and shall file the minutes or any written report of such proceedings with the City Secretary no more than three (3) weeks following each meeting.
(D) 
No officer or employee of the City nor any person who holds a compensated appointive position, or other elective office shall be appointed to any board, commission or committee created or established by this Charter other than in an advisory capacity to that board, commission, or committee, except and unless such an appointment is provided for in state statute.
All ordinances of the City of Lancaster now in existence and not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter shall remain in full force and effect until altered, amended or repealed by the City Council.
It shall be sufficient in all judicial proceedings to plead any ordinance of the City by caption without embodying the entire ordinance in the pleadings, and all pleaded ordinances or codes of ordinances shall be admitted in evidence in any suit and shall have the same force and effect as the original ordinance. Certified copies of the ordinances may also be used in evidence in lieu of original ordinances.