Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
5 <br />10 <br />Rules of Procedure for the <br />Board of County Commissioners <br />Introduction <br />These rules of procedure were designed for use by a North Caro- <br />lina board of county commissioners. Essentially, the rules are <br />a modified version of . <br />RobertÔs Rules of Order, RevisedRobertÔs <br /> is intended to guide the deliberations of a large legisla- <br />Rules <br />tive body; consequently, it is not always appropriate for a smal <br />governing board, which can afford to proceed with much less <br />formality. Another valuable resource consulted for this revi- <br />sion of the rules was . <br />MasonÔs Manual of Legislative Procedure <br />is intended primarily for state legislatures, <br />MasonÔs Manual <br />but its extensive discussion of the basic principles of parlia- <br />mentary law and procedure is valuable for local governing <br />boards as well. <br />These rules apply to all meetings of the Orange County Board <br />of Commissioners at which the Board is empowered to exer- <br />cise any of the executive, administrative or legislative powers <br />conferred on it by law. <br />The North Carolina law (G.S. 153A-41) permits a board of county <br />commissioners to adopt its own rules of procedure if these con- <br />form to Ñgenerally accepted principles of parliamentary proce- <br />dureÒ and do not conflict with applicable law. <br />MasonÔs Manual <br />suggests that parliamentary law affecting the work of a board of <br />county commissioners can be summarized in ten basic principles: <br />1.The board can take only those actions that it has authority or <br />. A corollary of this principle is that the <br />jurisdiction to take <br />boardÔs action, to be valid, must not violate any applicable <br />law or constitutional provision. This is simply another mani- <br />festation of the familiar legal doctrine that a unit of local <br />government has only those powers conferred on it by law or <br />necessarily implied from some specific grant of power. <br />. Under North Carolina <br />2.The board must meet in order to act <br />law, the powers conferred on the county governing board are <br />exercised by the county board of commissioners as a group, <br />not its individual members. Therefore, the group must meet <br />in order to act. <br /> <br />