Policy & Procedure / Bylaw Amendments

[Brouwer]

One of the board members of our township has submitted some major changes to our Policies & Procedures (which serve our township as our bylaws). 

In other government bodies in our county, such changes must first be presented at a meeting for discussion. Such amendments are not allowed to be voted on until the second meeting following so as to have time to fully consider their impact and give the public time for review.

Does RONR address the procedure for such amendments, or is entirely up to the prevailing Policies & Procedures / Bylaws?

[Josh Martin]

On 3/6/2024 at 8:26 AM, Brouwer said:

One of the board members of our township has submitted some major changes to our Policies & Procedures (which serve our township as our bylaws). 

In other government bodies in our county, such changes must first be presented at a meeting for discussion. Such amendments are not allowed to be voted on until the second meeting following so as to have time to fully consider their impact and give the public time for review.

Does RONR address the procedure for such amendments, or is entirely up to the prevailing Policies & Procedures / Bylaws?

RONR does have some general procedures on the subject of bylaw amendments, but rules in your township's bylaws and applicable law will take precedence.

In the unusual instance that the bylaws are entirely silent on this subject, the rule is that amendments to the bylaws require either:

• A 2/3 vote with previous notice, which may be given orally at the previous meeting, or included in the call of the meeting
• A vote of a majority of the entire membership

I would be quite surprised if there was nothing on this subject in the township's rules or applicable law. I would suggest consulting the township's clerks and attorneys on this matter.

[Brouwer]

Josh,

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, you will be surprised. Our Policies & Procedures do not properly address this. Further, the only copy anyone can find doesn't appear to be a final approved copy. It is full of pen markups and is missing at least four appendices. Board members have been making up their own rules and not following procedures or policies for years. Their arguments have been the old "but that's the way we've been doing it" gambit.