8204 AMH GVAD H5367.1

SJR 8204 - H COMM AMD

By Committee on Government Administration

    Strike everything after line 7 and insert the following:

    "Article XI, section ...  In addition to the methods of framing a county home rule charter which are contained in section 4 of this Article, a charter may be framed as provided in this section.  The legislature shall without unreasonable delay enact legislation creating and appropriating funds for a temporary county home rule committee of fifteen members.  The committee shall draft five alternative county "Home Rule" charters, a copy of which shall be submitted to the legislative authority of each county, and shall be retained by the state in its permanent records.  Any one of the five alternative charters may include one or more sets of alternative articles or propositions that are selected by voters separately from the basic question of whether the charter should be approved or rejected.  The committee shall exist not more than one year.  Committee members shall be appointed by the governor with at least one-third of the members to consist of members of the legislature and elected county officials.  A new county home rule committee with the same membership qualifications, which shall exist no longer than a one-year period, shall be appointed by the governor to redraft any of the alternative "Home Rule" charters whenever the legislature enacts legislation calling for the creation of a new temporary home rule committee.  As far as practical, all committees created under this section shall be representative of major geographic areas of the state and the state's demographic distribution.

    Any one alternative charter may be submitted at an election to voters of any county for their approval and ratification, or rejection, upon either:  (1) An ordinance adopted by the county legislative authority; or (2) the filing of a petition calling for an election which is signed by registered voters of the county equal in number to ten percent of the voters voting at the last preceding general election in the county.  Upon approval and ratification of a charter by the voters of the county under this section, the charter shall become the organic law of the county.  If voters approve and ratify a charter with alternative articles or provisions, the charter that is approved and ratified shall include those alternative articles or provisions that were selected by the voters.

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of state shall cause notice of the foregoing constitutional amendment to be published at least four times during the four weeks next preceding the election in every legal newspaper in the state and that the ballot title of the foregoing constitutional amendment shall be:  "Shall an additional procedure be permitted to simplify the process by which a proposed county charter is placed upon the ballot?""

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