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<section article="glg" article_name="Local Government" number="9-311" title_number="9" title_name="General and Administrative Provisions" subtitle_number="3">
  <level label="a">
    <text>A county commissioner of a code county may introduce a bill on any legislative day.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <level label="1">
      <level label="i">
        <text>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.</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>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.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <level label="i">
        <text>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.</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>For an emergency bill, the public hearing shall be held not less than 3 days after introduction of the emergency bill.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>The public hearing on a bill:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>need not be held on a legislative day; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>may be adjourned from time to time.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <level label="1">
      <text>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:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>as soon as practicable;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>on an official bulletin board in a public place in the building in which the county commissioners usually meet; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>in a manner that provides the public ready access to the copy of the bill and the notice during regular business hours.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Additional copies of the bill and notice of the hearing shall be made available to the public.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>Each copy of a bill shall contain:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>the name of the county commissioner who introduced the bill; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>the date the bill was introduced.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <level label="1">
      <text>An amendment proposed to a bill shall be in writing.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>A copy of each amendment shall be made available for inspection by the public.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="f">
    <level label="1">
      <text>After a public hearing, a bill may be finally passed on a legislative day with or without amendment.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <level label="i">
        <text>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.</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>If an emergency bill is amended before final passage, the emergency bill need not be reprinted as amended.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Except for an emergency bill, a bill may not be passed less than 7 days after its introduction.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="g">
    <level label="1">
      <text>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.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>An emergency bill shall be passed:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>by an affirmative vote of at least four–fifths of the total membership; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>if the total membership is three members, by an affirmative vote of at least two members.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="h">
    <level label="1">
      <text>The county commissioners shall keep a journal that shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable times.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>On final passage of a bill, the yea and nay votes shall be recorded in the journal.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="i">
    <text>Each bill that passes, or a fair summary of it, shall be published:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the county;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>at least three times;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>at weekly intervals; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>within the 4–week period after passage of the bill.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
