§ 9-311. Legislative procedure

   (a) Introduction of bills. -- A county commissioner of a code county may introduce a bill on any legislative day.

(b) Public hearings on bills. --

   (1) (i) Not later than the next day after the introduction of a bill, the presiding officer of the county commissioners shall schedule a public hearing on the bill.

      (ii) A bill may be rejected after its introduction without a hearing by a vote of at least two-thirds of the total membership of the county commissioners.

   (2) (i) Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, the public hearing on a bill shall be held not less than 7 days after introduction of the bill.

      (ii) For an emergency bill, the public hearing shall be held not less than 3 days after introduction of the emergency bill.

   (3) The public hearing on a bill:

      (i) need not be held on a legislative day; and

      (ii) may be adjourned from time to time.

(c) Copy of bill and notice of hearing. --

   (1) After the introduction of a bill, a copy of the bill and notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing shall be posted:

      (i) as soon as practicable;

      (ii) on an official bulletin board in a public place in the building in which the county commissioners usually meet; and

      (iii) in a manner that provides the public ready access to the copy of the bill and the notice during regular business hours.

   (2) Additional copies of the bill and notice of the hearing shall be made available to the public.

(d) Sponsor; introduction date. -- Each copy of a bill shall contain:

   (1) the name of the county commissioner who introduced the bill; and

   (2) the date the bill was introduced.

(e) Amendments. --

   (1) An amendment proposed to a bill shall be in writing.

   (2) A copy of each amendment shall be made available for inspection by the public.

(f) Passage of bills. --

   (1) After a public hearing, a bill may be finally passed on a legislative day with or without amendment.

   (2) (i) Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, if a bill is amended before final passage, the bill may not be passed until it is reprinted as amended.

      (ii) If an emergency bill is amended before final passage, the emergency bill need not be reprinted as amended.

   (3) Except for an emergency bill, a bill may not be passed less than 7 days after its introduction.

(g) Vote required for passage. --

   (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, to become a public local law, a bill shall be passed by an affirmative vote of the majority of the total membership of the county commissioners.

   (2) An emergency bill shall be passed:

      (i) by an affirmative vote of at least four-fifths of the total membership; or

      (ii) if the total membership is three members, by an affirmative vote of at least two members.

(h) Journal. --

   (1) The county commissioners shall keep a journal that shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable times.

   (2) On final passage of a bill, the yea and nay votes shall be recorded in the journal.

(i) Notice of passage of bills. -- Each bill that passes, or a fair summary of it, shall be published:

   (1) in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the county;

   (2) at least three times;

   (3) at weekly intervals; and

   (4) within the 4-week period after passage of the bill.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 25B, § 10(d)-(g), 11; 2013, ch. 119, § 2.