Bill Text: DE HB251 | 2009-2010 | 145th General Assembly | Draft

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Bill Title: An Act To Amend The Charter Of The Town Of Felton, Chapter 91, Volume 70, Laws Of Delaware, As Amended, To Preclude Contemporaneous Service On The Town Council By Related Individuals, To Change The Duration Of The Term Of A Member Of The Town Council, And To Implement Use Of The Kent County Voter Registration System.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Vetoed) 2010-02-09 - Vetoed by Governor [HB251 Detail]

Download: Delaware-2009-HB251-Draft.html

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SPONSOR:	Rep. Outten & Sen. Cook

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

145th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 251

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF FELTON, CHAPTER 91, VOLUME 70, LAWS OF DELAWARE, AS AMENDED, TO PRECLUDE CONTEMPORANEOUS SERVICE ON THE TOWN COUNCIL BY RELATED INDIVIDUALS, TO CHANGE THE DURATION OF THE TERM OF A MEMBER OF THE TOWN COUNCIL, AND TO IMPLEMENT USE OF THE KENT COUNTY VOTER REGISTRATION SYSTEM.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):

Section 1.Amend Section 4.2 of Chapter 91, Volume 70, Laws of Delaware, as amended, by adding two new sentences between the current second to last sentence and current final sentence of the section as follows:

"Any person otherwise eligible to be a member of Council shall not have a family member holding an elected office for the Town of Felton nor have a family member nominated for and/or appointed to an elected office in the Town of Felton.For purposes of this section ‘family member' shall mean spouse, parent, child, sibling, half-sibling, grandparent or grandchild.".

Section 2.Amend Section 4.3 of Chapter 91, Volume 70, Laws of Delaware, as amended, by deleting the current Section 4.3 and replacing it with a new Section 4.3 as follows:

"4.3Term of Office.The term of office for each member of the Town Council shall be three (3) years beginning with Council members elected in 2010 and thereafter.At the annual Town election in 2010, two (2) persons shall be elected to the Town Council to fill vacancies created by the expiration of the terms of office of the two then-outgoing council members; at the annual election in 2011, three (3) persons shall be elected to fill the vacancies created by the expiration of the terms of office of the three (3) then out-going council members; there shall be no annual election in 2012 as there will be no vacancies or out-going council members.Thereafter, two (2) members of the Town Council shall be elected in the next year, and three (3) members of the Town Council shall be elected in the following year, and every third year there shall be no annual Town election unless vacancies are created for reasons unrelated to this provision of the Charter.".

Section 3.Amend Section 6.2 of Chapter 91, Volume 70, Laws of Delaware, as amended, by deleting the current Section 6.2 and replacing it with a new section 6.2 as follows:

"6.2Voter registration.The Town shall utilize the State's Voter Registration system as the source of its list of registered voters.".

Section 4.This bill shall become effective immediately upon the Governor's signature.

SYNOPSIS

This bill amends the Town Charter of the Town of Felton to prohibit family members from serving on or running for the Town Council concurrently.

This bill also amends the Town Charter to implement a new length of elected term of office for members of the Town Council increasing the length of the term from two years to three years.

Finally, this bill amends the Town Charter by requiring that the Town use the State's Voter Registration system as its source for registered voters.