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§ 31.05 CITY TREASURER.
   (A)   (1)   The City Treasurer shall be the custodian of all money belonging to the city. He or she shall keep a separate account of each fund or appropriation and the debts and credits belonging thereto. He or she shall give every person paying money into the treasury a receipt therefor, specifying the date of payment and on what account paid. He or she shall also file copies of such receipts with his or her monthly reports. The City Treasurer shall, at the end of every month, and as often as may be required, render an account to the City Council, under oath, showing the state of the treasury at the date of such account and the balance of money in the treasury. He or she shall also accompany such accounts with a statement of all receipts and disbursements, together with all warrants redeemed and paid by him or her, which warrants, with any and all vouchers held by him or her, shall be filed with his or her account in the City Clerk’s office. If the City Treasurer fails to render his or her account within 20 days after the end of the month, or by a later date established by the City Council, the Mayor may use this failure as cause to remove the City Treasurer from office.
      (2)   The City Treasurer shall keep a record of all outstanding bonds against the city, showing the number and amount of each bond, for and to whom the bonds were issued, and the date upon which any bond is purchased, paid, or canceled. The City Treasurer shall accompany the annual statement submitted pursuant to Neb. RS 19-1101 with a description of the bonds issued and sold in that year and the terms of sale, with every item of expense thereof.
      (3)   The City Treasurer shall annually complete continuing education through a program approved by the Auditor of Public Accounts, and proof of completion of such program shall be submitted to the Auditor of Public Accounts.
(Neb. RS 17-606)
   (B)   (1)   The City Treasurer shall prepare and publish annually within 60 days after the close of the city fiscal year a statement of the receipts and expenditures of funds of the city for the preceding fiscal year. The statement shall also include the information required by Neb. RS 16-318(3) or 17-606(2). Not more than the legal rate provided for in Neb. RS 33-141 shall be charged and paid for such publication.
(Neb. RS 19-1101)
      (2)   Publication shall be made in one legal newspaper of general circulation in the city. If no legal newspaper is published in the city, then such publication shall be made in one legal newspaper published or of general circulation within the county in which the city is located.
(Neb. RS 19-1103)
   (C)   (1)   All warrants upon the City Treasurer shall be paid in the order of their presentation therefor and as otherwise provided in Neb. RS 77-2201 through 77-2215.
(Neb. RS 77-2201)
      (2)   The City Treasurer shall keep a warrant register, which register shall show in columns arranged for that purpose the number, the date, and the amount of each warrant presented and registered, the particular fund upon which the same is drawn, the date of presentation, the name and address of the person in whose name the warrant is registered, the date of payment, the amount of interest, and the total amount paid thereon, with the date when notice to the person in whose name such warrant is registered is mailed.
(Neb. RS 77-2202)
      (3)   The City Treasurer shall make duplicate receipts for all sums which shall be paid into his or her office, which receipts shall show the source from which such funds are derived, and shall, by distinct lines and columns, show the amount received to the credit of each separate fund, and whether the same was paid in cash, in warrants, or otherwise. The City Treasurer shall deliver one of the duplicates to the person making the payment and retain the other in his or her office.
(Neb. RS 77-2209)
      (4)   The City Treasurer shall daily, as money is received, foot the several columns of the cash book and of the register, and carry the amounts forward, and at the close of each year, in case the amount of money received by the City Treasurer is insufficient to pay the warrants registered, he or she shall close the account for that year in the register and shall carry forward the excess.
(Neb. RS. 77-2210)
      (5)   The cash book, register, and retained receipts of the City Treasurer shall at all times be open to the inspection of any person in whose name any warrants are registered and unpaid.
(Neb. RS 77-2212)
   (D)   The City Treasurer shall permit any person to examine and copy the public records in the City Treasurer’s custody, and may charge a fee for providing copies of a public record, as provided in Neb. RS 84-712 through 84-712.09.
   (E)   The City Treasurer shall keep all money belonging to the city separate and distinct from his or her own money. He or she shall cancel all bonds, coupons, warrants, and other evidences of debt against the city, whenever paid by him or her, by writing or stamping on the face thereof, “Paid by the City Treasurer”, with the date of payment written or stamped thereon. He or she shall collect all special taxes, allocate special assessments to the several owners, and obtain from the County Treasurer a monthly report as to the collection of delinquent taxes.
§ 31.06 CITY ATTORNEY.
   (A)   The City Attorney shall be the legal advisor of the City Council. He or she shall commence, prosecute, and defend all suits and actions necessary to be commenced, prosecuted, or defended on behalf of the city, or that may be ordered by the City Council. When requested, he or she shall attend meetings of the City Council and give them his or her opinion upon any matters submitted to him or her, either orally or in writing, as may be required. He or she shall draft or review for legal correctness ordinances, contracts, franchises, and other instruments as may be required, and he or she shall perform such other duties as may be imposed upon him or her by general law or ordinance. The City Council shall have the right to pay the City Attorney compensation for legal services performed by him or her for it on such terms as the City Council and City Attorney may agree, and to employ additional legal assistance and to pay for such legal assistance out of the funds of the city.
(Neb. RS 17-610)
   (B)   The City Attorney shall also examine, when requested to do so by the City Council, the ordinance records and advise and assist the City Clerk as much as may be necessary to the end that each procedural step will be taken in the passage of each ordinance to ensure that it will be a valid and subsisting local law in so far as its passage and approval are concerned.
§ 31.07 POLICE CHIEF.
   (A)   The Police Chief shall direct the police work of the city and shall be responsible for the maintenance of law and order. Unless the Mayor and City Council provide otherwise, he or she shall act as Health Inspector and Building Inspector.
   (B)   If the city has an agreement with the County Sheriff for law enforcement purposes, the County Sheriff shall have all the powers and duties of the Police Chief and city police officers as specified in the agreement.
Cross-reference:
   Police Department provisions, see §§ 32.60 et seq.
§ 31.08 POLICE OFFICERS.
   (A)   (1)    The Mayor, by and with the consent of the Council, shall appoint such a number of regular police officers as may be necessary. All police officers appointed by the Mayor and Council may be removed, demoted, or suspended at any time by the Mayor as provided in division (A)(2) of this section. A police officer, including the Chief of Police, may appeal to the City Council such removal, demotion, or suspension with or without pay. After a hearing, the City Council may uphold, reverse, or modify the action.
      (2)   The City Council shall by ordinance adopt rules and regulations governing the removal, demotion, or suspension with or without pay of any police officer, including the Chief of Police. The ordinance shall include a procedure for such removal, demotion, or suspension with or without pay of any police officer, including the Chief of Police, upon the written accusation of the Chief of Police, the Mayor, or any citizen or taxpayer. The City Council shall establish by ordinance procedures for acting upon such written accusation, in accordance with Neb. RS 17-107. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the preemptory suspension or immediate removal from duty of an officer by the appropriate authority, pending the hearing authorized by this section, in cases of gross misconduct, neglect of duty, or disobedience of orders.
      (3)   This section does not apply to a police officer during his or her probationary period.
   (B)   (1)   The City Council may establish a law enforcement reserve force. Members of such force shall be appointed at the discretion of the Council. The Council may limit the size of such reserve force.
      (2)   (a)   A member of a law enforcement reserve force appointed under this section cannot make arrests, issue citations, detain members of the public, or seize evidence without being under the direct supervision of a physically present certified law enforcement officer.
         (b)   A reserve officer may perform functions at the direction of the County Sheriff or Chief of Police when under the direct supervision of the County Sheriff or Chief of Police. Such functions shall not include making arrests, issuing citations, detaining members of the public, or seizing evidence.
         (c)   A reserve officer is not limited with respect to the amount of hours worked annually.
(Neb. RS 81-1438) (Ord. 725, passed 2-22-2022)
Cross-reference:
   Police department provisions, see §§ 32.60 et seq.
Statutory reference:
   Other provisions on law enforcement reserve force, see Neb. RS 81-1439 through 81-1446
§ 31.09 FIRE CHIEF.
   The Fire Chief shall be elected by the members of the Fire Department. He or she shall enforce all laws and ordinances covering the prevention of fires, the storage and use of explosives and flammable substances, the installation of fire alarm systems, the maintenance of fire extinguishing equipment, the regulation of fire escapes, and the inspection of all premises requiring adequate fire escapes.
Cross-reference:
   Fire Department provisions, see §§ 32.35 et seq.
§ 31.10 WATER COMMISSIONER/PUBLIC WORKS COMMISSIONER.
   (A)   (1)   As soon as a system of waterworks or mains or portion or extension of any system of waterworks or water supply has been established by the city, the Mayor shall nominate and by and with the advice and consent of the City Council shall appoint any competent person who shall be known as the Water Commissioner of the city and whose term of office shall be for one fiscal year or until his or her successor is appointed and qualified. Annually at the first regular meeting of the City Council in December, the Water Commissioner shall be appointed as provided in this section.
      (2)   The Water Commissioner may at any time, for sufficient cause, be removed by a two-thirds vote of the City Council. Any vacancy occurring in the office of Water Commissioner by death, resignation, removal from office, or removal from the city may be filled in the manner provided in this section for the appointment of the Water Commissioner.
      (3)   The Water Commissioner shall, before he or she enters upon the discharge of his or her duties, execute a bond or provide evidence of equivalent insurance to the city in a sum to be fixed by the Mayor and Council, but not less than $5000, conditioned upon the faithful discharge of his or her duties, and such bond shall be signed by two or more good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the Mayor and City Council or executed by a corporate surety.
      (4)   The Water Commissioner, subject to the supervision of the Mayor and City Council, shall have the general management and control of the system of waterworks or mains or portion or extension of any system of waterworks or water supply in the city.
      (5)   In a city where no Board of Public Works exists, and the city has other public utilities than its waterworks system, the Mayor and City Council shall by ordinance designate Water Commissioner as Public Works Commissioner with authority to manage not only the system of waterworks but also other public utilities, and all of the provisions of this division (A) applying to the Water Commissioner shall apply to the Public Works Commissioner.
(Neb. RS 17-541)
   (B)   (1)   The Water Commissioner shall collect all money received by the city on account of its system of waterworks and shall faithfully account for and pay over the same to the City Treasurer, taking his or her receipt therefor in duplicate, filing one of the same with the City Clerk.
      (2)   He or she shall make a detailed report to the City Council, at least once every six months, of the condition of the water system, of all mains, pipes, hydrants, reservoirs, and machinery, and such improvements, repairs, and extension thereof as he or she may think proper. The report shall show the amount of receipts and expenditures on account thereof for the preceding six months. No money shall be expended for improvements, repairs, or extension of the waterworks system except upon recommendation of the Water Commissioner.
      (3)   The Water Commissioner shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by ordinance.
      (4)   The Water Commissioner shall be paid such salary as the City Council may by ordinance provide, and upon his or her written recommendation, the Mayor and City Council shall employ such laborers and clerks as may to them seem necessary.
      (5)   Neither the Mayor nor any member of the City Council shall be eligible to the office of Water Commissioner during the term for which he or she was elected.
      (6)   If the city owns public utilities other than the waterworks system and the Water Commissioner has been designated by ordinance as the Public Works Commissioner under the authority of division (A) above, then all provisions of this division (B) in reference to a Water Commissioner shall apply to the Public Works Commissioner.
(Neb. RS 17-543)
   (C)   In the event the city shall have created a Board of Public Works as provided in § 32.06 of this chapter, the Water Commissioner shall, subject to confirmation by the Mayor and City Council, be employed thereafter by the Board at such reasonable compensation as may be agreed upon at the time of such employment and shall thereafter be under the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Works, any of the provisions of Neb. RS 17-501 to 17-560 to the contrary notwithstanding. Any Water Commissioner under the jurisdiction and control of the Board of Public Works may be removed by the Board, after an opportunity to be heard before the Mayor and City Council if he or she shall so request, for malfeasance, misfeasance or neglect in office.
(Neb. RS 17-804)
§ 31.11 SEWER COMMISSIONER.
   (A)   The Sewer Commissioner, subject to the supervision of the Mayor and City Council, shall have the general management and control of the sewer system in the city.
   (B)   He or she shall collect all money received by the city on account of its sewer system and shall faithfully account for and pay over the same to the City Treasurer, taking his or her receipt therefor in duplicate, filing one of the same with the City Clerk.
   (C)   He or she shall make a detailed report to the City Council, at least once every six months, of the condition of the sewer system and such improvements, repairs, and extension thereof as he or she may think proper. The report shall show the amount of receipts and expenditures on account thereof for the preceding six months.
   (D)   He or she shall issue permits for all connections to the sewer system and inspect and supervise all repairs made to the system.
   (E)   The Sewer Commissioner shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by ordinance.
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