Order of Business

1.    Agenda.

The Commission Executive Assistant, under the direction of the Chair, shall prepare an agenda and cause the same to be posted at least 24 hours before a meeting.

In order to facilitate the agenda process, any member of the County Commission or county employee may place an item on the agenda. In addition, any officer or employee of the county may request that an item be placed on the agenda. The Chair shall generally approve the agenda before it is published. Agenda items must be provided to the county commission by the close of business on the Thursday preceding the day of the regular meeting. If all documents associated with the item are not delivered to the county commission office by that time, the item will be postponed until the next regular meeting.

Meeting Rules of Procedure

1.    Purpose

The purpose of these rules is to establish orderly conduct of the commission meetings and meetings of other bodies within the County. The ultimate purpose of these rules of procedure is to encourage and facilitate appropriate decision-making. These rules of procedure shall be made available to the public at each meeting of the Board

2.    Model Format for an Agenda Item Discussion

The presiding officer can use the following ten steps as a model or guide. The meeting is governed by the agenda, and the agenda constitutes the only items to be discussed. Therefore, each agenda item can be handled by the presiding officer in the following basic format:

a. Announce the Item. The Chair should clearly state the subject matter of the agenda item by reading the caption for the item being considered.
b. Receive a Report. The Chair should invite the appropriate people to report on the item, including any recommendation they might have.
c. Ask Clarifying Questions. The Chair should ask the other commissioners if they have any questions for clarification. At this point, members of the County Commission may ask clarifying questions to the people who reported on the item, and they should be given time to respond.
d. Citizen Input. The Chair may invite citizen comments on a particular item, or if a public hearing, accept a motion to open the public hearing. Upon conclusion, the Chair should announce that public input is closed, or if a public hearing is closed, the public hearing.
e. Motion First. The Chair should invite a motion from the County Commission before the debate is given on the merits of the item. The Chair should announce the name of the member who makes the motion.