Bill Text: MI HB5774 | 2009-2010 | 95th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Counties; boards and commissions; option to elect county road commissioners by geographic districts of equal population; provide for. Amends secs. 6 & 8, ch. IV of 1909 PA 283 (MCL 224.6 & 224.8). TIE BAR WITH: HB 5775'10, HB 5776'10
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-03 - Printed Bill Filed 02/03/2010 [HB5774 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2009-HB5774-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 5774
February 2, 2010, Introduced by Reps. Lahti, McDowell, Neumann and Wayne Schmidt and referred to the Committee on Ethics and Elections.
A bill to amend 1909 PA 283, entitled
"An act to revise, consolidate, and add to the laws relating to the
establishment, opening, discontinuing, vacating, closing, altering,
improvement, maintenance, and use of the public highways and
private roads; the condemnation of property and gravel therefor;
the building, repairing and preservation of bridges; maintaining
public access to waterways under certain conditions; setting and
protecting shade trees, drainage, and cutting weeds and brush
within this state; providing for the election or appointment and
defining the powers, duties, and compensation of state, county,
township, and district highway officials; and to prescribe
penalties and provide remedies,"
by amending sections 6 and 8 of chapter IV (MCL 224.6 and 224.8),
section 6 as amended by 2006 PA 598 and section 8 as amended by
1994 PA 320.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
CHAPTER IV
Sec. 6. (1) Except as provided under subsection (4) or (5), in
a county where the county road system is adopted, a board of county
road commissioners consisting of not less than 3 members or more
than 5 members shall be elected by the people of the county. The
initial road commissioners shall be appointed by the county board
of commissioners or elected at a general or special election called
for that purpose, as determined by the county board of
commissioners. The county board of commissioners may by resolution
provide for staggered terms of office for the road commissioners
under this subsection so that not more than 2 road commissioners'
terms of office expire in the same year.
(2) If the road commissioners are appointed, they shall hold
office only until January 1 of the first odd numbered year
following the date of appointment. If the road commissioners are to
be elected at a general or special election, notice of the
election, embodying a copy of the resolutions of the county board
of commissioners, giving the number and terms of the office of the
road commissioners to be elected, shall be published by the clerk
as required by section 3 of this chapter.
(3) The regular election of county road commissioners shall be
held at the general election on the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in November. The term of office of an elected county road
commissioner shall commence on January 1 in the year following his
or her election. The notice of the election shall be given at the
time notice is given of the general election of county officers.
(4) The election of county road commissioners shall not be
mandatory in any county that contains all or part of 12 surveyed
townships as determined by the government survey of the county.
Except as provided under subsection (5), in a county under this
subsection the county board of commissioners, by a majority of its
members elect, may appoint the county road commissioners. A county
road commissioner appointed under this subsection shall not be
removed from office before the expiration of his or her term of
office without being given written notice of the charges made
against him or her and an opportunity to appear before the county
board of commissioners for a hearing on the charges.
(5) In a county having a population of 1,500,000 or more that
has adopted a charter under 1966 PA 293, MCL 45.501 to 45.521, the
powers and duties that are otherwise provided by law for a board of
county road commissioners may be reorganized by amendment to the
charter. Funds provided to the county under 1951 PA 51, MCL 247.651
to 247.675, shall only be expended for the purposes provided under
1951 PA 51, MCL 247.651 to 247.675.
(6) If the county board of commissioners proposes to alter the
number of county road commissioners as allowed under this act, the
county board of commissioners shall hold not less than 1 public
hearing on the proposed change to the road commission. The county
board of commissioners shall give notice as required under the open
meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275, of the time and
place of the public hearing not less than 28 days before the
hearing. The county board of commissioners shall also provide
written notice of the hearing to the county road commission and, if
available, by posting the notice on the county's website. The
county board of commissioners may vote on whether to alter the
number of county road commissioners at the meeting noticed under
this subsection.
(7) Beginning January 1, 2010, in a county where county road
commissioners are elected as provided under subsection (1), the
county board of commissioners may provide by resolution that county
road commissioners be elected to single-member districts. Within 60
days after the adoption of a resolution by the county board of
commissioners under this subsection, the county apportionment
commission, as described in section 3 of 1966 PA 261, MCL 46.403,
shall establish single-member county road commission districts
equal to the number of county road commissioners to be elected. The
county apportionment commission shall use the latest official
figures of the federal decennial census to establish boundary lines
for the county road commission districts. The county road
commission districts shall be compact, contiguous, and as equal as
possible in population. The county road commission districts shall
be in effect until reapportionment of the county road commission
districts occurs under subsection (8).
(8) If single-member county road commission districts are
established in a county as provided under subsection (7), beginning
with the 2010 federal decennial census, after each decennial census
the county apportionment commission shall reapportion the territory
of the county to determine the boundary lines for the county road
commission districts. The county road commission districts shall be
compact, contiguous, and as equal as possible in population.
(9) In a county where county road commissioners are appointed,
the county apportionment commission may establish for future use
single-member county road commission districts equal to the number
of county road commissioners to be selected that comply with the
requirements in subsection (7).
Sec.
8. (1) If Subject to
subsection (4), if a vacancy occurs
in the office of county road commissioner, the county board of
commissioners shall appoint a county road commissioner to fill the
vacancy.
The Subject to the
provisions of section 269 of the
Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL 168.269, the county road
commissioner who is appointed shall hold office for the unexpired
portion of the term in which the vacancy occurs. Each county road
commissioner shall hold office until his or her successor is
elected or appointed and qualified.
(2) The county board of commissioners shall fix the
compensation of county road commissioners.
(3) The county board of commissioners may authorize the
participation of county road commissioners in an insurance or
retirement program established under section 10a. Any such
authorization granted by a county board of commissioners before
this subsection was added is valid. The cost of participation in
the insurance or retirement program shall be paid by the county
road commission from county road funds.
(4) If a vacancy occurs in a single-member district in the
office of county road commissioner, the county board of
commissioners shall appoint a person from that district to fill the
vacancy. The person who is appointed shall hold office as provided
under section 269 of the Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL
168.269. As used in this subsection, a vacancy occurs when a county
road commissioner moves his or her residence outside of the single-
member district that he or she represents or as otherwise provided
in section 267 of the Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL
168.267.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect
unless all of the following bills of the 95th Legislature are
enacted into law:
(a) Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 5775(request no.
02340'09 a).
(b) Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 5776(request no.
02341'09).
