(A) Initial meeting. In years of County Board elections the initial meeting of the County Board shall be the first Monday in December. The Board Chairman shall call the meeting to order and preside.
(B) General powers of Chairman. The Chairman shall:
(1) Be responsible for administering the Board Office, including the supervision of staff and assignment of work;
(2) Preside at all meetings of the Board and the Executive Committee;
(3) Conduct the business of the Board meetings in the order prescribed in these rules with all necessary general powers including, but not limited to: recognize members entitled to the floor; to state and to put to a vote all questions which are regularly moved and seconded or which necessarily arise in the course of the proceedings; to announce the results thereof; to protect the Board from all frivolous or dilatory actions; to decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to the Board, in case of disturbances, breech of decorum, or disorderly conduct; to take action pursuant to § 33.06(M); and to assist in expediting the business of the Board;
(4) Have all the powers necessary to perform all other duties prescribed by law or by action of the Board; and
(5) Vote only when the vote of the Board results in a tie.
(C) Appointment and duties of Vice Chairman of the Board and standing committees.
(1) Vice Chairman. The Vice Chairman of the Board shall be nominated by the Chairman and subject to the approval of the full Board. The Vice Chairman must be a member of the Board and shall be a member of the Executive Committee and may also serve as Chairman of any committee or subcommittee.
(2) In case of the temporary absence of the Chairman or at the request of the Chairman, the Vice Chairman shall assume the duties and responsibilities of the Chairman on an interim basis, during which time the Vice Chairman shall have all of the powers and duties of the Chairman, including the authority to execute and sign on behalf of the county all ordinances, resolutions, intergovernmental agreements, contracts, and any other legal instruments approved by the County Board, unless otherwise provided by law. In case of the absence of the Chairman and the Vice Chairman at any meeting of the Board, the next available Board Member on the "Order of Next" shall have those powers listed above. The "Order of Next", a document to be created by the County Board Chair, is a list of those Board Members who shall succeed in the absence of the Chair and Vice Chair of the full Board and each County Board Committee.
(3) Standing committee. The Chairman of the Board shall appoint the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and members of all standing committees not later than the initial December Board meeting in each year in which Board elections are held.
(4) Vacancies. In case of a vacancy on the Board, the person named to fill the vacancy may also fill any vacancies on standing or special committees except that such person shall not be designated as Chairman or Vice Chairman thereof. When a vacancy has been created on a committee of the Board, the Chairman of the Board shall have the authority to fill that vacancy. The Vice Chairman of the Committee shall serve as interim Chairman until such appointment is made.
(D) Clerk of the Board. The County Clerk or a deputy selected by the County Clerk shall be the Clerk of the Board. The Clerk shall be the keeper of the records and the minutes of the Board and shall be in attendance at all meetings of the Board.
(E) Minutes of closed meetings. Minutes of any closed meeting held pursuant to the Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120/1.01 et seq. shall be made available to the members of the body which conducted such meetings at the next meeting of that body for approval. Upon approval of closed session County Board minutes, all distributed copies shall be returned to the County Clerk. Upon approval of closed session committee minutes, all distributed copies shall be returned to the Secretary of the Committee. The minutes shall be kept in a secure location and a copy shall be submitted to the State's Attorney. The State's Attorney shall preserve the copy in a secure location. Such minutes shall be reviewed at least semi-annually by the Board for continued need for confidentiality in accordance with the Illinois Open Meetings Act.
(F) Parliamentarian. The Board Chairman shall designate a member as Parliamentarian subject to the approval of the full Board. Upon request of the Chairman or a member of the Board, the Parliamentarian shall render advice or an opinion on questions of parliamentary law and procedure applicable to the members arising before the Board. The rules or parliamentary procedures as set forth in the latest published edition of Roberts Rules of Order, Revised shall govern the procedure of the Board in all cases applicable and to the extent not inconsistent with these rules.
(G) Appointments of officers and or members to various boards, councils, commissions, special authorities, special districts, and other agencies shall be made by nomination by the Chairman and approval of the Board unless otherwise provided by law.
(H) Procedure for filling vacancies in elective county offices. When a vacancy in any county elective office occurs, the procedure for filling such vacancy shall be as follows, to the extent consistent with any laws (10 ILCS 5/25-11) (Note: Circuit Clerk vacancy is filled by Circuit Judges, 10 ILCS 5/25- 10).
(1) When such vacancy occurs, the Chairman shall give notice of the vacancy to the County Central Committee of each political party within the county within three days of the occurrence.
(2) The Chairman shall provide notice of the appointment of a successor to the members of the Board seven days prior to an Executive Committee meeting.
(3) The appointee must meet all the qualifications for holding the public office and must provide evidence of membership in the same political party as the person who the appointee proposes to succeed.
(4) At a regular Board meeting within 60 days of the vacancy occurring, the appointment shall appear on the agenda and is subject to the approval of the Board.
(Prior Code, 1 TCC 4-2) (Ord. E-18-22, passed 2-25-2018; Res. E-23-90, passed 5-31-2023; Res. E-23-131, passed 10-25-2023)