SPONSOR:	Rep. Dukes & Sen. Richardson

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 148th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 31

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF LAUREL RELATING TO THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCILMAN.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):

Section 1.Amend the Charter of The Town of Laurel by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

Section 6.

The qualifications for Mayor and Town Councilman at the time of filing his Candidate Filing Form shall be as follows:

(a) The Mayor shall be at least twenty-one (21) years of age, a citizen of the United States and of the State of Delaware, a bona fide resident of The Town of Laurel for a minimum of one year and a registered voter of The Town of Laurel.

(b) The Town Councilman from the First Ward shall be twenty-one (21) years of age, a citizen of the United States and of the State of Delaware, a bona fide resident of The Town of Laurel for a minimum of one year and a bona fide resident of the First Ward, and a registered voter of The Town of Laurel.

(c) The Town Councilman from the Second Ward shall be twenty-one (21) years of age, a citizen of the United States and of the State of Delaware, a bona fide resident of The Town of Laurel for a minimum of one year and a bona fide resident of the Second Ward, and a registered voter of The Town of Laurel.

(d) The Town Councilman from the Third Ward shall be twenty-one (21) years of age, a citizen of the United States and of the State of Delaware, a bona fide resident of The Town of Laurel for a minimum of one year and a bona fide resident of the Third Ward, and a registered voter of The Town of Laurel.

(e) The Town Councilman from the Fourth Ward shall be twenty-one (21) years of age, a citizen of the United States and of the State of Delaware, a bona fide resident of The Town of Laurel for a minimum of one year and a bona fide resident of the Fourth Ward, and a registered voter of The Town of Laurel.

(f) Each of the Councilmen-At-Large shall be twenty-one (21) years of age, a citizen of the United States and of the State of Delaware, a bona fide resident of The Town of Laurel for a minimum of one year and shall also have the qualifications established in Section 4 of this Charter. Each Councilmen-At-Large shall be a registered voter of The Town of Laurel.

(g) Each of the qualifications for Mayor and Town Councilman shall be continuing qualifications to hold office and the failure of either the Mayor or any Town Councilman to have any of the qualifications required by this Section during his term of office shall create a vacancy in the office.

(h)Each Town Councilman, Town Councilman At Large, and the Mayor, may NOT have been convicted of a felony.Each candidate running for office must submit a full background check conducted by the Delaware State Police.Candidate will be responsible for paying for the cost of the background check.The background check must be submitted at the time of the filing of the Candidate Filing Form.

SYNOPSIS

This bill amends the Charter of the Town of Laurel to include in the qualifications for Mayor and Town Councilman, that candidates must be a resident of the Town of Laurel for a minimum of one year.It also amends the section of the charter to include the qualification that the Town Councilman, Town Councilman At Large, and The Mayor may not have been convicted of a felony and each candidate running for office must submit a full background check conducted by the Delaware State Police.