Sponsor: Board of Commissioners
Title
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Rules of Procedure for 2025
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Recommendation
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1. Adopt Rules of Procedure to govern the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners.
2. This resolution supersedes all prior resolutions pertaining to procedures.
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Background and Rationale
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Annually, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners adopt its operating rules and procedures at the Annual Organizational Meeting. The Ramsey County Home Rule Charter states that the Ramsey County Board shall determine its own rules of procedure and order of business but does not state a particular date or time by which they must be adopted.
RULES OF PROCEDURE
1. Except as hereinafter provided, Robert's Rules of Order shall apply to the procedures of the Board of Ramsey County Commissioners.
2. The Board of Ramsey County Commissioners, hereinafter called the Ramsey County Board, shall hold regular sessions upon the first four Tuesdays of each month at 9:00 a.m., except legal holidays, unless specially ordered otherwise by majority vote of the Ramsey County Board. All meetings, including committee meetings, will be televised, to the extent possible.
3. The Chair of the Ramsey County Board shall preside at all meetings and in his/her absence, the Vice-Chair shall preside. The Chair and Vice-Chair shall be selected by vote of the members of the Ramsey County Board at the first meeting in January of each year.
4. For the purpose of assisting the Ramsey County Board in carrying on its business, such committees shall be formed and shall be composed of such members as determined by resolution of the Ramsey County Board. Minutes of the committee meetings shall be kept, and shall become official upon approval by the committee. Minutes of a committee of the whole may be approved at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the appropriate standing committee, if no subsequent committee of the whole meeting has been scheduled.
5. Four members of the Ramsey County Board shall constitute a quorum for a board meeting.
6. A majority of the appointed members of a standing committee shall constitute a quorum for committee meetings.
7. Should any standing committee meet and be one or two members short, the Board Chair and/or Vice-Chair may be asked to fill in for the missing member(s).
8. The Chair of a standing committee may move an item to the Ramsey County Board, without recommendation, if the committee does not have a quorum.
9. All Commissioners present at Committee meetings can participate in discussion and vote on all items.
10. It shall be the duty of the County Manager or his/her designated agent to keep a correct journal of the proceedings of the Ramsey County Board, to cause committees and members of the Ramsey County Board and its officers to be informed of such duties as they may be charged with from time to time.
11. No issue shall be placed upon the agenda of business for any regularly held meeting of the Ramsey County Board unless the same has been distributed to the offices of the Ramsey County Board members and other interested parties by noon Friday preceding the meeting of the Ramsey County Board. The County Manager may promulgate such procedures as necessary to carry out this rule.
12. When a Ramsey County Board member is aware of an emergency agenda item the County Manager shall be notified immediately. The County Manager shall immediately consult with the County Attorney's Office and the Clerk to the Board and place the emergency agenda item on the appropriate standing committee and/or Ramsey County Board meeting agenda as soon as legally possible.
13. The agenda of committee and board meetings shall be in the format prescribed by a majority of Ramsey County Board of Commissioners either by motion or resolution.
14. When a question is put by the Chair, every member shall vote, except the Ramsey County Board, for special reasons, may excuse any member from voting upon statement of the reason.
15. Matters placed on the "Administrative" portions of the agenda shall be moved by the Ramsey County Board member who is slated to vote first on roll call votes for that meeting which shall be rotated alphabetically at each succeeding meeting.
16. The Ramsey County Board shall use roll call voting when action is taken at Ramsey County Board meetings to approve, deny, amend or lay over items on the Ramsey County Board's "Administrative" or "Policy" agendas. The Ramsey County Board may use a voice vote for procedural motions at board meetings, and for all actions at committee meetings. The Board Chair shall vote last in all cases.
17. Administrative or consent matters requiring Ramsey County Board approval, as determined by the Chair, will be placed directly on the Ramsey County Board’s agenda under an "Administrative" section of the Ramsey County Board agenda without prior committee action and will be discussed and voted on separately.
18. Draft, unapproved minutes of the Board meeting shall be prepared, kept, recorded and distributed to all Ramsey County Board members and other interested parties by the County Manager or his/her designated agent not less than three working days preceding the next regularly scheduled meeting. These minutes shall become official upon Ramsey County Board approval and shall constitute the official public record.
19. The official public record of Ramsey County Board meetings shall be available in the Office of the County Manager and shall be distributed to all city halls and public libraries throughout the county within one week of approval.
20. It shall be the responsibility of the sponsoring committee, staff, official or citizen to have an agenda matter prepared in the form to be acted on by the Ramsey County Board and to have secured legal, fiscal, and administrative review as determined by the County Manager or his/her designated agent.
21. Special meetings of the Ramsey County Board may be called by the Chair of the Board or by a majority of its members.
22. All meetings of the Ramsey County Board, including special meetings, shall be held at the County Seat, either in the Offices of the Board of County Commissioners, or in the Council Chambers on the third floor of the City Hall and Courthouse, or such location as may be designated by the Board by resolution, motion, or by the Chair.
23. No rule of the Ramsey County Board shall be suspended or amended without the concurrence of a majority of the Ramsey County Board.
24. All matters requiring Board approval must receive the concurrence of a majority of the Ramsey County Board.
25. Citizens who wish to be heard on matters of interest to the good and welfare of the county shall be heard at an appropriate time on the agenda.
26. The Ramsey County Board may waive the first and second reading of a proposed ordinance if a copy of the proposed ordinance is supplied to each member of the Ramsey County Board prior to its introduction and if the Ramsey County Board passes a resolution waiving the full reading of the ordinance.
27. The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners hereby waives the reading of Ramsey County Board Resolutions, unless a reading of a specific resolution is requested by the Chair.
28. The county clerk is responsible for the safe and orderly keeping of ordinances, resolutions and policies adopted by the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners. The clerk must maintain a current record of adopted ordinances, resolutions and board policies.
29. The county clerk may make minor, non-substantive corrections to ordinances, resolutions and board policies, upon the written advice or recommendation of the county attorney or the county attorney’s designee without the necessity of further action of the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners. The county attorney or designee must confirm that the proposed changes do not alter the intent and meaning of the record being corrected. The corrections authorized by this provision include, but are not limited to:
a. correction of grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors;
b. correction of typographical errors;
c. removal of duplicate pages;
d. correction of incorrect references to federal, state and local laws and regulations, or other similar or technical sources;
e. substitution of written words for figures or symbols and vice versa;
f. corrections to legal descriptions of real property, as may be required to enable recording of record; provided that any change must be consistent with parcel sketches or other depictions provided to the board of commissioners at the time of board approval of the ordinance or resolution that is corrected.
The county clerk shall provide the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners with an annual written report describing all corrections made under this provision.
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County Goals (Check those advanced by Action)
☐ Well-being ☐ Prosperity ☐ Opportunity ☒ Accountability
Racial Equity Impact
This action is strictly administrative and operational. Rules of Procedure guide how Ramsey County Board meetings are conducted. This action has minimal impact on racial equity.
Community Participation Level and Impact
This action is for information only.
☒ Inform ☐ Consult ☐ Involve ☐ Collaborate ☐ Empower
Fiscal Impact
No fiscal impact with this action.
Last Previous Action
On January 2, 2024, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners adopted the Rules of Procedure to govern the Ramsey County Board for the year 2024 (Resolution B2024-003).
Attachments
None.