Charter ordinances: Appointing teens to library board

K.S.A. 12-1222 says, "All members appointed to a library board shall be residents of the municipality." Library boards in small towns often have trouble finding seven people to serve on the library board. K.S.A. 15-209 says, "The officers elected or appointed under this act shall be qualified electors of said city." Kansas law allows cities to change local law using a charter ordinance. The charter ordinance below allows the mayor to appoint teens to the library board. Library boards and librarians have difficulty attracting teens to the library. Teens on the board can provide observations and suggestions about making the library more attractive to the next generation.

*** Sample charter ordinance ****

CHARTER ORDINANCE NO. ###### 

A CHARTER ORDINANCE EXEMPTING THE CITY OF [City name], KANSAS, FROM THE PROVISIONS OF K.S.A. 15-209 [for third class city or 14-205 for second class city], AND PROVIDING SUBSTITUTE PROVISIONS FOR APPOINTING TEENS TO THE LIBRARY BOARD.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF [city name], KANSAS:

Section 1. The City of [CITY NAME], Kansas, by virtue of the power vested in it by Article 12, Section 5 of the Constitution of the State of Kansas hereby elects to and does exempt itself and make inapplicable to it K.S.A. 15-209 [for third class cities or 14-205 for second class cities] which applies to this city but does not apply uniformly to all cities.

Section 2. All officers elected or appointed shall be qualified electors of said city, except the city may appoint as members of the library board a maximum of 2 responsible high school students that have parental or legal guardian approval.

Section 3. This Charter Ordinance shall be published once each week for two consecutive weeks in the official city newspaper.

Section 4. This Charter Ordinance shall take effect 61 days after the final publication unless a sufficient petition for a referendum is filed, requiring a referendum to be held on the ordinance as provided by Article 12, Section 5, Subsection (C3) of the Constitution of the State of Kansas, in which case this charter Ordinance become effective upon approval by the majority of the electors voting thereon.

Passed by the Governing Body, not less than two-thirds of the members elect voting in favor thereof, this [#] day of [MONTH], [YEAR]. _____________________________ Mayor Attest: City Clerk