(1) 
The governing body of the county is the Board of three County Commissioners, who shall be nominated and elected at-large for a four-year term.
(2) 
In addition to any other qualifications for office established by this charter, the following shall be qualifications for the office of County Commissioner:
(a) 
Any candidate for the office of Commissioner must be and remain a resident of the County for a period of six (6) months prior to the election in which such person is a candidate; and
(b) 
If elected, such person, while holding office as a Commissioner, shall remain at all times a resident of the County.
(Amended November, 1988; March, 1993)
Except commissioners appointed to vacancies on the Board of County Commissioners, the term of office of a county commissioner begins the first Monday after the first January 1 after the commissioner is elected to the office and continues four years and until the succeeding commissioner qualifies for the office.
At its first regular meeting each year, the Board of County Commissioners shall designate one of its members Board Chairman and one of its members Vice Chairman for the year. If two members of the Board cannot agree on the designation of a Chairman, the member of the Board who has served on the Board for the longest continuous period of time shall act as Chairman. The Chairman shall:
(1) 
preside over the Board meetings,
(2) 
preserve order at the meetings,
(3) 
enforce the rules of the Board, and
(4) 
have whatever additional functions the Board prescribes consistent with this charter.
The Vice Chairman shall preside over the meetings of the Board in the absence of the Chairman and shall have such other powers and duties as may be prescribed by Board rules.
(1) 
By ordinance the Board of County Commissioners shall prescribe rules governing its meetings, procedures and members as such.
(2) 
Regular meetings of the Board shall be held weekly in the county at times and places designated in the rules of the Board.
(3) 
Special meetings, emergency sessions and executive sessions may be held upon the call of the Chairman or of two Commissioners. Notices of such meetings shall be as provided in the rules of the Board. Notice of a special meeting shall be given to the Commissioners and the general public at least 24-hours prior to the commencement of such meeting. An emergency session may be held only in case of an actual emergency, and the notice of the session shall be appropriate to the circumstances. Notice of an executive session shall state the specific provision of law authorizing the executive session.
(4) 
An agenda of all action to be considered at regular and special meetings shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the county courthouse at least 24-hours immediately preceding regular meetings and 6-hours preceding special meetings. Copies of all notices and agenda and of ordinances, orders and resolutions to be considered under the agenda shall be available at the courthouse to interested persons throughout the time that the notices and agenda are required to be posted. The Board may take action on an item not on the agenda if the Board members present concur that an emergency required the action.
(5) 
All Board meetings shall be public, except as state law provides to the contrary. Written minutes shall be kept of all proceedings of the Board in accordance with the state law on public meetings.
(6) 
Voting shall be by roll call, including the Chairman, and the ayes and nays shall be recorded in the minutes. Except as this charter provides to the contrary, the concurrence of two members of the Board is necessary to decide any question before the Board.
INTENT: This charter amendment provides the Josephine County Board of Commissioners with the tools to effect swift remedial action in emergency situations.
Section 1. An emergency session of the Board shall be called only in case of an actual emergency as defined herein. Such emergency session shall respond only to the emergency that necessitated the session and items properly related to the emergency situation. An emergency session of the Board shall be open to the pubic and allow for public comment. Notice of an emergency session shall be clearly and accountably reconcilable with the urgency and the nature of the emergency for which the session is called. The nature and the urgency of the emergency, along with a clear statement of the actual emergency for which the emergency session of the Board was called, shall be entered in the minutes of that session. An emergency ordinance shall relate only to the emergency causing the emergency session to be called and shall be established only at an emergency session.
Section 2. No administrative order, administrative rule, executive order, or executive policy, or any other administrative or executive contrivance, shall be used to modify the intent or the specific mandates and definitions of this amendment.
DEFINITIONS: a) Emergency: the existence of a clear and present danger or threat to life or property of the people of Josephine County resulting from a disaster, either natural or man made, including, but not limited to, earthquake, conflagration, flood, war, plague, pestilence, or riot; an occurrence that would be obvious as an emergency to any reasonable or prudent person. b) Board: the Josephine County Board of Commissioners.
SEVERABILITY: If a part of this amendment is found invalid, all parts that are severable from the invalid part shall remain in effect. If a part of this amendment is invalid in one or more of its applications, that part remains in effect in all valid applications that are severable from the invalid applications.
(Amended March, 1996)
(1) 
An ordinance may embrace but one subject and matters properly connected therewith. The title of the ordinance shall express the subject.
(2) 
The ordaining clause of an ordinance shall read:
(a) 
in case of adoption by the Board of County Commissioners alone, "The Board of County Commissioners of Josephine County ordains as follows:";
(b) 
in case of adoption or ratification by the voters of the county, "The People of Josephine County ordain as follows:"
(3) 
Except as this section provides to the contrary, before an ordinance is adopted, it shall be read fully and distinctly in open meeting of the Board on two days at least 13-days apart. All readings of an ordinance shall be public hearings.
(4) 
Except as subsection (5) of this section allows to the contrary, an ordinance necessary to meet an emergency may, upon being read first in full and then by title, be adopted at a single meeting of the Board by unanimous vote of all its members present. This subsection shall not be used by the Board in adopting an ordinance that imposes or provides exemptions from a tax, assessment, or charge for the purpose of raising revenue. An emergency ordinance shall be deemed automatically repealed 120-days from the date of its enactment.
(5) 
Any reading required by subsection (3) or (4) of this section may be title only:
(a) 
if no member of the Board present at the meeting requests that the ordinance be read in full; or
(b) 
if not later than one week before the first reading of the ordinance, a copy of it is provided each member, copies of it are available in the office of the Board of County Commissioners, notice of the availability is given by written notice posted at the courthouse, and notice of the availability is published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the County.
(6) 
An ordinance adopted after being read by title only may have no legal effect if any section incorporating a substantial change in the ordinance as introduced is not read fully and distinctly in open meeting of the Board prior to the adoption of the ordinance.
(7) 
Within three days after the Board adopts an Ordinance, the person who presides and the person who serves as recording secretary at the meeting at which the ordinance is adopted shall sign the ordinance and indicate its date of adoption.
(8) 
An ordinance adopted in accordance with this section, if not an emergency ordinance, shall take effect on the 90th day after the date of its adoption, unless it prescribes a later effective date or is referred to the voters of the county. If an ordinance is referred to the voters, it shall take effect only upon the approval of a majority of those voting on the proposed ordinance. An emergency ordinance may take effect immediately upon the date of its adoption.
(9) 
Any ordinance adopted by the Board and imposing, or providing an exception from, taxation shall receive the approval of the voters of the county before taking effect.