(Submitted to the voters for their signatures to require a vote of the county.)
CHARTER FOR JOSEPHINE COUNTY, OREGON
ARTICLE I -- Entity
Josephine County of the State of Oregon, hereinafter referred to as this county, consists of the portion of the State of Oregon so defined by the Laws of the State of Oregon. Its seat of government is located in the City of Grants Pass.
ARTICLE II -- Authority
We the voters of this county hereby declare with the Framers of the Oregon Constitution that all men, when they form a social compact are equal in right: that all power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded upon their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and happiness; and they have at all times a right to alter, reform, or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper.
We furthermore declare that all rights of mankind issue forth from the three primary rights with which they are endowed by their Creator, namely: the right to life, the right to property, and the right to choose according to their conscience how they will live that life and use that property. In conclusion we declare that only those powers voluntarily and temporarily specifically delegated or assigned by the people to civil government are subject to exercise by that civil government.
We give our consent to this charter that: (1) our inalienable rights will be protected by just administration of law and order, and (2) our common properties will be administrated in an efficient and impartial way to the benefit of all the residents of this county. We therefore herein delegate certain specific powers and duties for the government of this county and reserve to the people all powers and duties not so delegated.
ARTICLE III -- Separation of Powers
The powers of government exercised by this county or within this county shall be divided between legislative, executive, and judicial branches. No person charged with official duties under one of these branches shall exercise any functions of another except as the Constitution of the State of Oregon or this charter shall expressly provide.
Exercising legislative power is hereby defined as the adoption of statements directing the private affairs of individual residents or groups of residents of this county -- by any name whatsoever -- and the statements so adopted shall be titled as ordinances, in contrast to administrative rules that shall direct only the conduct of public servants in the course of their official business. The legislative powers of this county, as further described herein, shall be exercised jointly by the voters of this county through the initiative and referendum process and by a Board of County Commissioners, hereinafter referred to as the Board.
Exercising executive power is hereby defined as the enforcement of those statements adopted by the exercise of legislative power. The executive powers of this county shall be vested in the offices of County Sheriff, County Clerk, County Assessor, County Treasurer, and County Surveyor, hereinafter referred to as the Sheriff, Clerk, Assessor, Treasurer, and Surveyor, as further described herein. The Sheriff's Department shall enforce ordinances enacted by the Board only upon the order of a court of competent jurisdiction, except for instances when a violation is in progress.
Exercising judicial power is hereby defined as the evaluation of laws and facts for the purpose of determination of guilt or innocence in the breaking of laws or contracts and the imposition of penalties or judgments. The judicial powers of this county shall be vested in those officers specified by the Constitution and Laws of the State of Oregon. All adjudication in this county shall operate on the presumption of innocence, and all juries shall be instructed in their right to judge both the law and the facts of each case.
ARTICLE IV -- The Board
The Board shall consist of seven County Commissioners. They shall be elected to fill four year terms by the voters of the districts that they shall represent. Commissioners for even numbered districts shall be elected in leap years and commissioners for odd numbered districts shall be elected in the even numbered non-leap years, subject to transitional provisions contained in this charter and the special election authorized thereunder.
The seven districts from which and by which the individual County Commissioners shall be elected shall be drawn by the Board in cooperation with the Clerk and subject to the following stipulations: (1) each district shall be composed of a number of precincts that most nearly produces an equal number of registered voters in each district, (2) each district shall consist of adjacent precincts, (3) not more than one district shall contain precincts both within and without the city limits of Grants Pass, and (4) no precinct in the area commonly known as the Illinois Valley shall be included in a district that contains any precinct(s) north of the Rogue River or in a district that contains one or more precinct(s) from the area commonly known as the Murphy-Provolt-Williams area.
The Board is authorized to act upon the behalf of the residents of this county in any matter authorized by the Constitution and Laws of the State of Oregon, but only to the extent that it is also authorized by this charter. This authority extends to: (1) the adoption of ordinances to promote and protect the public health, safety, and happiness of the residents of this county; (2) the appropriation of county funds to provide for the same through the construction and maintenance of roads, airports, boat ramps, parks, swimming pools, fairgrounds, waste disposal sites, and public buildings for the housing of libraries, museums, county offices, meeting halls, animal control facilities, and jails; and (3) the adoption of administrative rules governing the conduct of public servants in the course of their official business.
The Board shall meet at least once weekly to hear reports from department heads, to receive unstifled input from the residents of this county, to adopt ordinances for the governing of this county, and to appropriate funds as necessary from the general fund to meet the needs of this county as provided in this charter. The weekly meetings shall be on weekday evenings, shall not be consecutively on the same day of the week, and shall be held in various parts of the county to allow the largest possible unstifled public input. Such meetings shall have adequate notice and be at times and places calculated to allow the greatest participation of those affected by the decisions. The meetings shall be taped and copies be made available to the public at cost.
The chairman and vice-chairman of the Board shall be elected at the first meeting of the Board each year. A quorum for business of the Board shall consist of a majority of those currently serving on the Board, and the decision on all questions not otherwise addressed by this charter shall require a majority of those present to pass. All questions shall be by roll call vote. The chairman shall vote on all questions. Robert's rules of order newly revised shall govern all meetings of the Board except as otherwise provided in this charter or in the Constitution or Laws of the State of Oregon.
The Board shall organize the activities under their authority into departments. The Board shall appoint the department heads, which shall serve at the pleasure of the Board. Elected officials not a part of the Board shall be department heads in their areas of responsibility. The personnel of all departments under the management of any elected officials of this county shall be subject to the administrative rules adopted by the Board. All lands and buildings or improvements thereon acquired or constructed on behalf of this county shall be property of this county and managed subject to the administrative rules enacted by the Board. The disbursement of funds for acquiring and maintaining equipment and supplies necessary for the discharge of any department head's responsibilities shall be authorized by the adoption of the annual budget. The approval of the Board shall be secured before accepting or acquiring additional lands for county use and before developing present county owned lands, with funds for these capital expenses coming from a separate fund for this purpose.
ARTICLE V -- Other Elected Officers of This County and Their Departments
The Clerk, Assessor, and Surveyor shall be elected in leap years, and the Sheriff and Treasurer shall be elected in the even numbered, non-leap years. They shall each serve four year terms. They shall manage their respective departments according to the Constitution and Laws of the State of Oregon, the relevant provisions of this charter, and the ordinances and administrative rules enacted by the Board.
ARTICLE VI -- Election Procedures for County Officials
Elections to fill county offices shall be nonpartisan and shall provide each voter with the opportunity to say yes or no in the Primary Election to each candidate for county office whether opposed or unopposed. No candidate rejected by more than 50% of those voting shall be qualified by any means to serve in that office until the term for which he ran has expired. All candidates receiving approval of more than 50% of those voting shall be placed on the General Election Ballot, with the one receiving the highest number of votes in the general election in that case being declared the winner.
In the event that no primary election candidate for a specific office shall qualify for placement on the General Election Ballot, the election shall be open to candidates nominated by petitions bearing signatures of register voters entitled to vote for that office in the amount of no less than one-half of one percent of the number of those registered to vote for that office at the time of that Primary Election.
If the candidates on the General Election Ballot for a specific office have not received approval in the Primary Election and none of them receives a majority, those two receiving the highest numbers of votes shall be placed on a run-off election ballot twenty-eight days following the General Election to determine the winner.
An elected officer of this county may be recalled in the manner and with the effect now or hereafter prescribed by the Constitution and the Laws of the State of Oregon or the charter of this county. The balance of the term of that elective office shall be filled by appointment by the Board if no regular primary election date follows within that balance; otherwise regular elections shall be used to fill that office for the balance of the term.
ARTICLE VII -- Ordinance Powers
Ordinances adopted by the Board shall take effect ninety days following their adoption except in a time of declared public emergency. Ordinances unanimously adopted by the Board in a time of public emergency shall take effect immediately and expire one hundred and twenty days later. Ordinances adopted in a time of public emergency that expire before being adopted on a non-emergency basis shall not be readopted on an emergency basis.
Ordinance making power by initiative process shall be superior to the ordinance making power of the Board. Ordinances adopted by initiative process shall take effect immediately upon certification of adoption by the Clerk. No county ordinance adopted by initiative process shall be subject to alteration by the Board without the unanimous approval of all the current members of the Board.
ARTICLE VIII -- Public Financing Authority
No tax shall be levied by this county except those having been approved by the voters of this county. The charge for permits required by this county shall not exceed the actual cost attributable to the inspections conducted thereunder and/or the processing thereof, and no county permit shall be required unless approved by the voters of this county. Services rendered to the public by this county may be provided on a fee basis to those utilizing those services if they are not forced by law or ordinance to use those services in the course of using or developing their private property.
ARTICLE IX -- Budgetary Process
The elected county officials (excluding the Commissioners) and the appointed department heads of this county shall sit jointly as the Budget Committee to discuss the current financial conditions and priorities of this county. Each elected and appointed department head under the authority of the Board shall submit a proposed annual budget to the Budget Committee. The Budget Committee shall prepare and recommend a comprehensive budget to the Board. After thorough discussion and opportunity for unstifled public input, the Board shall adopt by ordinance a consolidated budget for this county. The salary and benefits received by the elected officials of this county shall be subject to the ordinance-making power of the people as expressed by initiative or referendum. Six months following adoption of this charter the annual salary and benefits per elected county official shall be reduced to thirty thousand dollars, pending adoption of a future budget. (Budgets containing salary and benefits in excess of this figure will require unanimous approval of the Board.)
ARTICLE X -- Land Use Planning
To the extent that land use planning is mandated by the laws of the State of Oregon, all decisions both initial and final in the development of the plan and the establishment of penalties for its violation shall be made by the Board in open meeting with opportunity for unstifled public input. Such meetings shall have adequate notice and be at times and places calculated to allow the greatest participation of those affected by the decisions. (In no case do the residents collectively delegate to the Board the right to interfere in the free exercise of private property rights where damage to another's rights has not been proven in a court of law.) Enforcement of the land use plan shall be by the Sheriff's department, but only upon the order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
ARTICLE XI -- Definition of Terms
As used herein, the meaning of these terms shall be as follows:
(1) unstifled public input shall mean that each person wishing to address the question at hand shall be accorded at least one opportunity to speak to the Board and those in attendance according to a time limit set in advance by the Board, and if the public meeting is adjourned for the lateness of the hour, it shall be reconvened at the next possible opportunity to allow those remaining from that first meeting who wish to speak to do so before the question is decided by the Board. unstifled public input shall furthermore mean that, when all questions at hand have been spoken to and decided by the Board, any person in attendance may address the Board on any issue of personal concern as new business until the Board shall unanimously vote to adjourn.
(2) adequate notice shall mean notice published in not less than two newspapers of general circulation in this county at least three weekdays in advance of the public meeting, and listing all questions to be decided.
(3) times and places calculated to allow the greatest participation of those affected by the decisions shall mean that public meetings shall be held on weekdays after 6 PM and the places of those meetings shall rotate through the seven commissioner districts, except that meetings for those districts partially or wholly within the city limits of Grants Pass may be held at any building of adequate seating and with adequate parking within the city limits of Grants Pass.
(4) a time of declared public emergency shall mean that there is an immediate threat to life, health, or property that may be averted only with an immediate act of the Board and the Board has unanimously voted to declare a public emergency, thus excusing the lack of immediate unstifled public input and lack of adequate notice of the question to be considered. Such declaration of public emergency shall detail the immediate threat perceived by the Board.
(5) weekdays shall mean Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, legal holidays excepted, and leap years shall mean years whose numbers are equally divided by the number four.
(6) public servant(s) shall mean any person(s) on the payroll of the county government.
(7) private property shall mean any property not held in trust by government for the people in common, and property held by the government of this county shall be referred to as property held for the people in common.
(8) neighbor shall mean the owner or lawful resident on a piece of property either adjacent or across a public right-of-way.
(9) tax shall mean and be the exclusive term used for the collection of money from individuals and non-government bodies for the funding of any activities specifically authorized by this charter. fee shall mean and be the exclusive term used for a sum of money collected for any service provided by this county that is not forced on the recipient, and fees for these services shall not exceed the actual cost of providing the service.
(10) permit shall mean an authorization to proceed with activities otherwise not allowed by the Legislature or a vote of the people of this county. charges for permits shall be referred to as permit charges, in distinction to fees.
ARTICLE XII -- Charter & Ordinance Initiative Process
This charter and all county ordinances shall be subject to amendment, revision or repeal by the initiative process provided by the Constitution and Laws of the State of Oregon and this charter. Amendment, revision or repeal of this charter shall require the consent of a simple majority of the total number of voters in this county. Ordinances shall be decided by a simple majority of those voting. Charter amendment, revision, and repeal shall require presentation of petitions bearing a number of signatures according to the same constitutional formula as for amendments to the Constitution of the State of Oregon to bring them to the voters of the county. Initiating or referring county ordinances shall require presentation of petitions bearing a number of signatures according to the same constitutional formula as for initiating or referring state statutes respectively.
ARTICLE XIII -- Transition Provisions
Those elected county officials not herein provided for that shall exist previous to the adoption of this charter shall continue in office for the unexpired balance of their terms. Elected-at-large County Commissioners thus serving shall be considered to represent the districts in which they reside and the initial boundary and number of each district shall take into account the expirations of term specified in Article V.
The Board of Commissioners and the County Clerk serving at the time of the adoption of this charter shall draw, within 30 days, the initial boundaries of the seven commissioner districts subject to the stipulations of Article IV, paragraph 2, and conduct, within 120 days of the drawing of those district boundaries, a special primary election, which primary election shall be followed in 120 days by a general election to fill all vacancies on the Board for the balance of their terms of office as specified herein, subject to the stipulations of Article VI.
Ordinances in force at the time of the adoption of this charter shall expire six months after the adoption of this charter unless otherwise earlier revoked or readopted under the authority of this charter.
Contracts entered into under the authority of the Constitution and Laws of the State of Oregon or the provisions of any previous charter of this county prior to the circulation of the initiative petitions for the adoption of this charter shall continue in force. Contracts otherwise entered into that violate the authority granted by the voters of this county to the government of this county shall be declared null and void.
ARTICLE XIV -- Declaration of Rights and Restrictions
We declare that many other logically derived rights issue out of our inalienable rights to life and property and the right to choose according to our individual conscience how we will live that life and use that property. We further declare that any attempt to suspend or restrict those rights is a crime regardless of whatever person or institution has committed it. The primary purpose of the government of this county shall be to prosecute such crimes with all powers at its disposal.
The right to worship according to the dictates of one's conscience shall not be suspended or restricted at any time or in any place in this county by any ordinance whatsoever, nor shall anyone be compelled to support in any way what they find contrary to their conscience, but crimes against the person or property of others committed under the color of religion shall be adjudicated in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Each person has the right to express freely one's opinions of any type whatsoever at any time within this county upon one's own property or on property subject to one's control by rent or lease or on property held by the people in common, but the right to expression of opinion shall not be construed to allow noise objectionable to neighbors or to allow obscene displays visible from outside the property owned or under control or to interfere with the use by others of property held by the people in common, and the right to expression of opinion shall not give license for libel.
The right to petition for redress of grievances shall not be restricted or financially obstructed in any way in this county, but the right to petition shall not be construed to authorize the blockage of public right-of-ways or entry points of private or public buildings.
Each person has the right to defend one's life or property against assault by others, and no restrictions shall be made or enforced in this county regarding the ownership of weapons of any kind by any person for that purpose, but the right to defend life and property do not excuse the use of excessive force, as defined by juries on a case by case basis.
Life or property shall be taken from its owner only as a penalty for crimes committed or breach of contract respectively and only upon conviction by a jury of his peers. No property shall be condemned for public use in this county except by jury verdict and at a value determined by that jury. No property shall be otherwise condemned in this county. Restrictions on the use of one's property shall be limited solely by actual damages to the life and property of others proven to the satisfaction of a jury of one's peers, and no judicial order against the owner's use of property shall be enforced unless confirmed by a jury.
Except to stop crimes in progress, no elected official or civil employee shall enter any private property for any reason whatsoever unless with the consent of its owner or lawful resident or with a warrant issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. All other entry of private property shall be deemed criminal trespass in this county.
Any unanimous association of adjacent neighbors within this county shall be recognized as a local body politic, and their elected officers may be empowered by the compact of that association to mediate in matters of that neighborhood's concern and to levy taxes and spend moneys on its behalf for maintenance and improvements.
No tax shall be levied in this county that shall not result in an equal benefit for all who are taxed, nor shall any tax be voted upon by those who are not subject to it. The county shall not place its residents under control of governing bodies unelected by those residents.
The primary rights and responsibilities of natural or adoptive parents for the instruction and upbringing of their children are hereby recognized. Laws to the contrary shall not be enforced in this jurisdiction.
The right to harm oneself is recognized without qualification, whether by suicide, inadequate safeguards such as seat belts and helmets, or the use of addictive or toxic substances, but the right to harm oneself shall not be construed to allow harm to those under one's care or to those who are bystanders, whether by accident or design.
All other rights of the people enumerated in the Constitutions of the State of Oregon and the United States of America are hereby incorporated by reference unless specifically excluded. Any partial enumeration of these rights made in this charter shall not be construed to disparage those not listed herein. No rights of the people (enumerated or otherwise) shall be regulated or restricted by any instrument of government in this county, except as consented to by a majority of the voters resident in this county and appended to this charter.
(home page) (back to Achieve True Election Law Reform)
The current Josephine County Charter used to be on the county's website, but they deleted it. (I guess they weren't too proud of it!)
I have an electronic copy of it that I copied from that source. If you want to see it, click
****HERE****