(A) The membership of the Lake County Public Safety Communications Commission shall be determined as follows:
(1) The Commission shall be comprised of the following 19 voting members and one non-voting advisor:
(a) The Chief of Police, Chief of the Fire Department, Emergency Management Director, or member of the City Council as appointed by the Mayors of Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, Crown Point, Hobart, Lake Station and Whiting (seven voting members);
(b) The Chief of Police, Chief of the Fire Department, Emergency Management Director, or member of the Town Council as appointed by the Town Council Presidents of Dyer, Griffith, Highland, Lowell, Merrillville, Munster, New Chicago, and St. John (eight voting members);
(c) The Lake County Sheriff who serves by virtue of office (one voting member);
(d) One member of the Lake County Board of Commissioners (one voting member);
(e) One member of the Lake County Council (one voting member);
(f) A representative of unincorporated Lake County appointed by the Lake County Board of Commissioners (one voting member);
(g) The Lake County Emergency Management Director who serves by virtue of office (a non-voting advisor).
(2) The Commission may have up to two additional voting members if the Town of Schneider and the Town of Winfield desire to make appointments to the Commission as follows:
(a) The Town Council President of the Town of Schneider shall notify the Commission in writing of the appointment of the Town of Schneider’s Chief of Police, Chief of the Fire Department, Emergency Management Director, or member of the Town Council, and such appointment shall be one voting member.
(b) Town Council President of the Town of Winfield shall notify the Commission in writing of the appointment of the Town of Winfield’s Chief of Police, Chief of the Fire Department, Emergency Management Director, or member of the Town Council, and such appointment shall be one voting member.
(B) The Town of Cedar Lake and the Town of Schererville previously appointed members to the Lake County Public Safety Communications Commission. However, the Towns of Cedar Lake and Schererville are not parties to the agreement for consolidated dispatch services with administration through the Commission. Instead, the Towns of Cedar Lake and Schererville entered into a separate agreement for their own independent consolidated dispatch center in Lake County known as the SouthCom Public Safety Answering Point (“SouthCom”). As a result, and in accordance with the mutual release and settlement agreement dated December 19, 2018 between the Towns of Cedar Lake and Schererville (together as the members of SouthCom), and the Lake County Board of Commissioners, Lake County Council, Lake County Public Safety Communications Commission, and the Lake County Auditor, the Town of Cedar Lake and the Town of Schererville shall no longer make appointments to the Commission or have representation on the Commission in any capacity.
(C) Pursuant to the Indiana Data and Communications Systems (“IDACS”) rules, a majority of the Commission’s voting members shall represent criminal justice agencies.
(D) Commission members shall serve four-year staggered terms, subject to division (F) below.
(1) Group A. The following nine government units shall appoint one member for the term beginning January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2020, and for every four-year term thereafter:
(a) Lake County Board of Commissioners;
(b) Town of Crown Point;
(c) Town of Dyer;
(d) City of East Chicago;
(e) City of Gary;
(f) Town of Griffith;
(g) City of Hammond;
(h) Town of Highland; and
(i) City of Hobart.
(2) Group B. The following nine government units shall appoint one member for the term beginning January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2022, and for every four-year term thereafter:
(a) Lake County Council;
(b) Unincorporated Lake County appointed by the County Commissioners;
(c) City of Lake Station;
(d) Town of Lowell;
(e) Town of Merrillville;
(f) Town of Munster;
(g) Town of New Chicago;
(h) Town of St. John; and
(i) City of Whiting.
(3) If the Town Council President of the Town of Schneider and/or Town of Winfield appoint a member to the Commission in accordance with division (A)(2) above, then the first of the two towns to make an appointment shall be added to Group B, and the second town shall be added to Group A.
(E) Appointments by each municipality shall be determined as follows:
(1) Beginning with the first municipality in Group A (in 2017) and Group B (in 2019), each municipality shall appoint either its Chief of Police or a non-law enforcement representative (Fire Chief, Emergency Management Director, or Council member) to the Commission, not to exceed a total of six non-law enforcement municipal appointments on the Commission at any time (three from each group).
(2) Appointments for all subsequent terms shall begin with the next municipality in Group A and Group B that follows the municipality that made the last non-law enforcement appointment in the prior term.
(3) Mid-term appointments to the Commission by a municipality shall be the same type of appointment (Chief of Police or non-law enforcement representative) as the initial appointment for that specific term.
(4) A member may designate a proxy in writing for a specific meeting; however, the proxy shall be the same type of appointment as the current Commission member (Chief of Police or non-law enforcement representative). The proxy for the Chief of Police shall be a law enforcement deputy with command responsibility. The proxy for a non-law enforcement representative shall be from the same Fire Department or municipal or county office as the current Commission member.
(5) A quorum of the Commission is ten of the 19 voting members. Each member has one vote. Official action of the Commission requires ten affirmative votes. If the Town of Schneider and/or Town of Winfield make an appointment to the Commission in accordance with divisions(A)(2) and (D)(3) above, then a quorum of the Commission shall then be 11 of the then 20 or 21 voting members. Official action of the Commission shall then require 11 affirmative votes.
(Ord. 1362A, passed 7-9-2013; Ord. 1362A-1, passed 9-10-2013; Ord. 1362A-2, passed 6-10- 2014; Ord. 1362A-3, passed 3-12-2019)