ELECTED COUNTY EXECUTIVE VACANCY - S.B. 687 (S-2): FLOOR ANALYSIS

sans-serif">Senate Bill 687 (Substitute S-2 as reported by the Committee of the Whole)

Sponsor: Senator Michael D. Bishop

Committee: Local, Urban and State Affairs

CONTENT

The bill would amend Public Act 139 of 1973, which provides for an optional unified form of county government, to do the following:

--    Specify that if the county executive were absent or unable to perform the duties of his or her office, the chief deputy would have to perform the duties of the county executive until the county executive could resume them.

--    Provide that if a vacancy occurred in the office of the elected county executive due to death or resignation of the executive, the chief deputy would have to serve as the county executive until the county board of commissioners appointed a successor to the elected county executive, or until a special election was held.

Currently, if the office of elected county executive becomes vacant due to death or resignation, the county board of commissioners must appoint a new county executive to serve until the next general election. The bill would delete this requirement.

The bill provides that if the county board of commissioners chose to appoint a successor, the appointment would have to be made within 30 days from the date of the death or resignation. An appointed county executive would serve until the next general election. If the board did not make an appointment within 30 days, a special election would have to be held at the earliest possible date allowed by law.

The bill would require a county executive, within 10 days after being sworn in, to appoint a chief deputy. The county executive also could appoint additional deputies as he or she considered necessary. The county executive would have to file a statement with the county clerk identifying the individual appointed as chief deputy and all others appointed as a deputy or assistant deputy. The statement would have to identify the ranking order of the deputies. The county executive could revoke his or her appointments at any time.

Under the bill, if the chief deputy were unable to serve as the county executive due to his or her death or resignation, the next highest ranking deputy would have to serve as the county executive until the county board of commissioners appointed a successor, or until a special election was held.MCL 45.559 & 45.560 - Legislative Analyst: George Towne

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.

Date Completed: 10-22-03 - Fiscal Analyst: David ZinFloor\sb687 - Bill Analysis @ www.senate.michigan.gov/sfa

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.