Section 28-A:1 - Charter Commission; Petition; EstablishmentI.(a) A person registered to vote within the county may file a declaration of intent to petition the establishment of a county charter commission with the board of commissioners.(b) Petitions shall be on paper of uniform size and may consist of as many individual pages as are necessary provided that a separate petition shall be utilized for each municipality in which signatures are solicited. The petition circulated in each municipality and ward, where wards exist, shall bear the heading "PETITION FOR COUNTY CHARTER COMMISSION", underneath which shall be printed "Municipality of __________; Ward __________," followed by the paragraph: "Each of the undersigned voters respectfully requests the county convention to establish a charter commission for the purpose of studying the need for and/or preparing a county charter to be submitted to the voters of the County of __________ ."
(c) Each signature shall be in ink or other indelible instrument and shall be followed by the place of residence with street and number, if any. No petition shall contain any party or political designation.(d) Before submission to the board of commissioners, each petition shall be certified by the clerk of the municipality in which it was circulated as to the voting registration of the signatories. The clerk shall strike those names who are found not to be registered voters; however, this shall not in any way invalidate the remaining names.II.(a) Upon submission of petitions totalling at least 10 percent of the registered voters within the county, the board of commissioners shall convene the county convention within 60 days to vote upon the following question: "Shall a county charter commission be established for the purpose of studying the need for a written county charter establishing the structure of county government and, if the commission deems necessary, for the purpose of drafting a county charter for submission to the voters?"
(b) If 2/3 of the county convention members present and voting vote to establish a charter commission, a nominating committee shall be established consisting of the 3 county commissioners and 4 members of the executive committee of the county convention selected by the chairman of the county convention. The nominating committee shall present a list of charter commissioners to the full convention. The county convention shall accept or reject the list without amendments by a simple majority vote. In the event of rejection, the nominating committee shall prepare a new slate of nominees, including any it may desire to renominate, for submission to the convention within 30 days. If the second slate of nominees is rejected, the nominating committee shall prepare a third and final list, which shall constitute the charter commission without further action by the convention.(c) If the county convention votes against the establishment of a charter commission, the board of commissioners shall not submit the above question to the county convention for at least 2 calendar years following the negative vote.1986, 112:1, eff. July 19, 1986.