Rules for Standing Committees
1. A majority of any committee shall be sufficient to proceed to business, the exceptions being meetings of the Planning Commission or the Community Mental Health Board, or such other Board as a County Board member may be appointed to or required to serve upon in their capacity as an elected member of the County Board. No effective business of the committee shall be decided without a majority.
2. The Chairman shall cause each member of their committee to be notified of committee meetings in sufficient time, either personally or by mail, giving time and place thereof. The Chairman of any committee shall preside at the meeting of their committee, shall report its actions and recommendations to the Board, and shall carry out its orders as expressed by the majority vote thereof at such meetings. No Chairman shall have or exert any greater authority or power than any other member of such committee, except as herein otherwise provided.
3. No committee shall meet during the session of the Board unless specifically authorized by a majority of the whole Board.
4. All committee members when they meet, if the Board is not in session, shall file a statement with the Administrative Assistant of their mileage and the purpose for which they met.
5. The Chairman of each committee shall notify the Chairman of the Board prior to each committee meeting called in sufficient time to permit their attendance if they so desire.
6. The Chairman of the Board shall be briefed on all decisions reached by each committee within one week of each committee meeting. All action and decisions made by a committee shall be recorded in minutes and all County Board members shall receive a copy thereof. A copy of each committee's minutes would be considered sufficient briefing.
7. No committee, regardless of any ambiguity of any written rule, which may exist with respect to any standing committee, shall have, or exercise, or arrogate to itself unilaterally, those powers, duties, and responsibilities properly reserved to the County Board.
8. All committees may hold a meeting closed to the public
or close a portion of the meeting to the public upon a majority
vote of a quorum present, taken at a meeting open to the public
for which notice has been given as required by law. The vote
of each member on the question of holding a meeting closed to
the public and a citation to the specific exemption contained
in the Open Meetings Act shall be recorded and entered into the
minutes of the meeting. A single vote may be taken with respect
to a series of meetings, a portion or portions of which are proposed
to be closed to the public, provided each meeting in such series
involves the same particular matters and is scheduled to be held
within no more than three (3) months of the vote. Only topics
specified in the vote to close the meeting may be considered
during the closed meeting. All closed sessions will be in compliance
with the Open Meetings Act, which states clearly the exceptions
authorizing the closing of meetings. A vote of each member on
the question of returning to open session shall be recorded.
Minutes taken in closed session must include but not be limited
to:
1. Date, time and place of the meeting;
2. The members of the body recorded as present or absent; and
3. A summary of discussion on all matters proposed and deliberated.
The taking of final action in any closed meeting is prohibited.
A verbatim record of each closed meeting by audio or video recording
will be maintained. The verbatim record may be destroyed without
notification to or the approval of a records commission or the
State Archivist under the Local Records Act no less than eighteen
(18) months after the completion of the meeting recorded but
only after:
1. the committee approves the destruction of a particular recording;
and
2. the committee approves minutes of the closed meeting that
meet the written minutes requirements.
Minutes of that portion of any meeting closed to the public shall
be kept by the Administrative Assistant of the County Board and
maintained in a separate file. Such minutes shall be available
for public inspection only after the committee has determined
that it is no longer necessary to protect the public interest
or the privacy of an individual by keeping such minutes confidential.
The committee shall review minutes of closed sessions at each
regular May and October meeting to determine whether such minutes
or any portion thereof shall be made available for public inspection.