§ 5-5-1

Petition for abandonment of managerial form; referendum; succeeding elections of officers and alderpersons or trustees. (a) A city or village that has operated for 4 years or more under the managerial form of municipal government may abandon that organization as provided in this Section. For the purposes of this Article, the operation of the managerial form of municipal government shall be deemed to begin on the date of the appointment of the first manager in the city or village. When a petition for abandonment signed by electors of the municipality equal in number to at least 10% of the number of votes cast for candidates for mayor at the preceding general quadrennial municipal election is filed with the circuit court for the county in which that city or village is located, the court shall set a date not less than 10 nor more than 30 days thereafter for a hearing on the sufficiency of the petition. Notice of the filing of the petition and of the date of the hearing shall be given in writing to the city or village clerk and to the mayor or village president at least 7 days before the date of the hearing. If the petition is found sufficient, the court shall enter an order directing that the proposition be submitted at an election other than a primary election for the municipality. The clerk of the court shall certify the proposition to the proper election authorities for submission. The proposition shall be in substantially the following form: Shall (name of city or village) retain the managerial form of municipal government? (b) If the majority of the votes at the election are "yes", then the proposition to abandon is rejected and the municipality shall continue operating under this Article 5. If the majority of the votes are "no", then the proposition to abandon operation under this Article 5 is approved. (c) If the proposition for abandonment is approved, the city or village shall become subject to Article 3.1 or Article 4, whichever Article was in force in the city or village immediately before the adoption of the plan authorized by this Article 5, upon the election and qualification of officers to be elected at the next succeeding general municipal election. Those officers shall be those prescribed by Article 3.1 or Article 4, as the case may be, but the change shall not in any manner or degree affect the property rights or liabilities of the city or village. The mayor, clerk, and treasurer and all other elected officers of a city or village in office at the time the proposition for abandonment is approved shall continue in office until the expiration of the term for which they were elected. (d) If a city or village operating under this Article 5 has alderpersons or trustees elected from wards or districts and a proposition to abandon operation under this Article 5 is approved, then the officers to be elected at the next succeeding general municipal election shall be elected from the same wards or districts as exist immediately before the abandonment. (e) If a city or village operating under this Article 5 has a council or village board elected from the municipality at large and a proposition to abandon operation under this Article 5 is approved, then the first group of alderpersons, board of trustees, or commissioners so elected shall be of the same number as was provided for in the municipality at the time of the adoption of a plan under this Article 5, with the same ward or district boundaries in cities or villages that immediately before the adoption of this Article 5 had wards or districts, unless the municipal boundaries have been changed. If there has been such a change, the council or village board shall so alter the former ward or district boundaries so as to conform as nearly as possible to the former division. If the plan authorized by this Article 5 is abandoned, the next general municipal election for officers shall be held at the time specified in Section 3.1-10-75 or 3.1-25-15 for that election. The alderpersons or trustees elected at that election shall, if the city or village was operating under Article 3 at the time of adoption of this Article 5 and had at that time staggered 4 year terms of office for the alderpersons or trustees, choose by lot which shall serve initial 2 year terms as provided by Section 3.1-20-35 or 3.1-15-5, whichever may be applicable, in the case of election of those officers at the first election after a municipality is incorporated. (f) The proposition to abandon the managerial form of municipal government shall not be submitted in any city or village oftener than once in 46 months.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 102-15, eff. 6-17-21.)