54-40.4-03. Charter commission alternatives - Powers and limitations - Charter
contents.
1. Within sixty days after proceedings are initiated for a county-city home rule charter, the
governing bodies of the affected counties and cities shall enter into a joint powers
agreement specifying the procedure for framing the charter, which may include the
establishment of a single, cooperative charter commission with membership
representing each county and city. As an alternative, the governing body of each
county and city may establish a charter commission to frame the charter in cooperative
study with the charter commissions of the other counties or cities. The governing
bodies shall designate one of the members as chair of the charter commission.
2. Each governing body may, whether separate charter commissions are established or
another procedural arrangement is established through execution of a joint powers
agreement, set the compensation and expenses of charter commission members and,
from its general funds, furnish the charter commission with office space, supplies, and
legal, clerical, and other assistance.
3. A charter commission, during its deliberation, may hold public hearings and community
forums and use other suitable means to disseminate information, receive suggestions
and comments, and encourage public discussion on the subject of the proposed
county-city home rule charter, and may report periodically to the affected governing
bodies on its progress. In preparing the charter, the charter commission may:
a. Include all, or any part, of the available powers enumerated by sections
11-09.1-05 and 40-05.1-06 for county and city home rule in the county-city
charter, subject to the limitations of those provisions. A unified county-city
government may not levy any tax that would not otherwise be authorized within
the jurisdiction of a city or county pursuant to section 11-09.1-05 or 40-05.1-06,
and city taxes may be levied only within areas of the unified government which
are designated as participating cities;
b. Provide for adjustment of existing bonded indebtedness and other obligations in a
manner that will provide for a fair and equitable burden of taxation for debt
service;
c. Provide for the transfer or other disposition of property and other rights, claims,
assets, and franchises of local governments unified under the charter;
d. Provide for the reorganization, abolition, or adjustment of boundaries of any
existing boards, commissions, agencies, and special districts of the unified
governments;
e. Include provisions for transition in implementing the charter, including elements
that consider the reasonable expectations of current officeholders such as
delayed effective dates for implementation at the end of a current term or a future
term, upon the occurrence of a vacancy, or on a date certain;
f. Include provisions for the limited application or temporary implementation of the
charter, including provisions that permit implementation on a trial or experimental
basis such as the expiration of the charter on a date certain in the future, required
reapproval of the charter by the electors at a future date, or a phased-in
implementation of various aspects of the charter; and
g. Include other provisions that the charter commission decides to include and
which are consistent with state law.
4. A county-city home rule charter may not diminish the term of office for which a current
county officer was elected, redesignate that elected office during that term as
appointed, or reduce the salary of the office for that term.
5. A county-city home rule charter may not diminish the future term of office, or
redesignate an elected office as appointed, with respect to any person who, on
August 1, 1993, holds an elected county office and continues to hold that specific
office for future terms on an uninterrupted basis. This subsection does not apply after
January 1, 2002, or if the person holding the affected office consents in writing to the
proposed charter and submits that written document prior to the scheduled
implementation of the charter to a district judge serving the judicial district in which the
county is located.
6. The charter commission shall submit a single, joint report and proposed charter within
one year after appointment, unless a later submission date is agreed to by the affected
governing bodies. The proposed charter or accurate summary of the charter must be
published in the official newspaper of each affected county and city, at the expense of
each county and city, at least once during two different weeks within the thirty-day
period immediately preceding the date of election. However, a city with a population of
one thousand or less may, instead of publishing the charter in a newspaper, distribute
copies of the charter door-to-door and have them posted and available at prominent
locations in the city.
