§ 65-554. Membership - Tenure.

A.  The metropolitan library commission for any county with a population of less than six hundred thousand (600,000) as determined by the latest Federal Decennial Census shall consist of eleven (11) members.  Six of the members shall be appointed by the mayor of the county seat city, subject to approval of the governing body of that city.  Three of the members shall be appointed by the board of county commissioners.  The mayor of the county seat city and the chairman of the board of county commissioners shall be ex officio members of the commission and shall be entitled to vote on all matters.  The initial appointments by the city shall designate two members to serve a term of three (3) years, two members to serve a term of two (2) years, and two members to serve a term of one (1) year.  The initial appointments by the county shall designate one member to serve a term of three (3) years, one member to serve a term of two (2) years, and one member to serve a term of one (1) year.  The terms of such initial appointees and the terms of all future appointees of both the city and county shall expire July 31 of the year the term expires, regardless of the calendar date when the appointments are made. Subsequent appointments of either the city or the county shall be for three-year terms, except in the case of an appointment to fill a vacancy in the membership of the commission, which latter appointment shall be for the balance of the unexpired term of the member whose death, resignation, or removal has created the vacancy. A member of this commission, once qualified, can be removed during the term of office only for misconduct or neglect of duty and, if the member requests a hearing before the governing body which appointed the member, after a hearing has been held.  All members of the commission shall serve without compensation and shall serve until their successors are appointed and confirmed.  The librarian provided for in Section 556 of this title shall be the secretary of the metropolitan library commission and shall be a nonvoting member of the commission.

B.  1.  Beginning July 31, 2007, the metropolitan library commission for any county with a population of six hundred thousand (600,000) or more as determined by the latest Federal Decennial Census shall consist of the following members:

a.thirteen members who shall be appointed by the mayor of the county seat city, subject to the approval of the governing body of that city,

b.one member who shall be appointed by the board of county commissioners to serve as an at-large member of the commission representing citizens living in areas of the county not otherwise represented by an appointee,

c.one member from each municipality in the county which has a library or library extension located within the boundaries of the municipality and which is a part of the metropolitan library system, who shall be appointed by the mayor of each municipality respectively, subject to the approval of the governing body of each municipality,

d.the mayor of the county seat city, who shall be an ex officio member, and

e.the chair of the board of county commissioners, who shall be an ex officio member.

2.  Any member serving on a commission subject to the provisions of this subsection on the effective date of this act may at the discretion of the appointing authority continue to serve until expiration of the term.

3.  For any commission created pursuant to this subsection, the mayor of the county seat city and the chairman of the board of county commissioners shall be ex officio members of the commission and shall be entitled to vote on all matters.

4.  For any commission created pursuant to this subsection, the terms of the initial appointees of the county seat city shall be staggered so that the terms of all the members do not expire in the same year.  The terms of all appointees to the commission shall expire July 31 of the year the term expires, regardless of the calendar date the appointments are made.  All appointments to the commission shall be for three-year terms, except in the case of an appointment to fill a vacancy in the membership of the commission, which shall be for the balance of the unexpired term.  Once qualified, a member of the commission may be removed from office only for misconduct or neglect of duty.  If the member requests a hearing before the governing body which appointed the member, removal shall be effective only after a hearing has been held.  All members of the commission shall serve without compensation and shall serve until a successor is appointed and confirmed.  The librarian provided for in Section 556 of this title shall be the secretary of the commission and shall be a nonvoting member of the commission.

Added by Laws 1965, c. 192, § 4, emerg. eff. June 8, 1965.  Amended by Laws 1982, c. 66, § 1, operative July 1, 1982; Laws 1992, c. 322, § 19, eff. July 1, 1992; Laws 2007, c. 65, § 1, eff. July 31, 2007.