SPIRO T. AGNEW, Governor

Enactment of Local Laws

8.    Applicability of subtitle.

Every code county shall proceed as provided in this subtitle in
exercising the powers for the enactment, amendment, or repeal of
public local laws or for the issuance of bonds under the subtitle
"Creation of Public Debt by Code Counties" in this Article.

9.    Legislative session.

Every code county, by public local law, shall establish a specified
number of days, not to exceed forty-five, in which the Board of
County Commissioners may meet in each year for the purpose of
enacting public local laws. These legislative days may but need
not be consecutive and may be alloted as the legislative body, by
public local law determines. The first legislative session shall be held
on the first ordinary business day which is sixty days subsequent to
the effective date of code home rule status and shall be fifteen days
long. These fifteen days shall not count as part of the annual forty-
five legislative days. Any legislative day not specified or not deter-
minable by the local law shall be preceded by a notice published m
a newspaper of general circulation in the county within a period
of from NOT LESS THAN three to ten NOT MORE THAN FOUR-
TEEN days prior thereto.

10.    Legislative procedure.

(a)    Public meetings. All legislative sessions shall be open to the
public.

(b)    Enacting clause. The style of the enacting clause for all

bills shall be "Be it enacted, by............................" and all public local

laws shall be passed by original bill.

(c)    Titles. Each public local law enacted shall embrace but one
subject, and that shall be described in its title; and no public local
law, or section of public local law, shall be repealed, revised, or
amended by reference to its title only.

(d)    Procedure for passing bills. A bill may be introduced by any
member of the Board of County Commissioners on any legislative
session-day. Not later than the next calendar day following the
introduction of a bill the president of the Board of County Com-
missioners shall schedule a public hearing on the bill, that shall not
be less than seven calendar days after its introduction; but the
Board of County Commissioners may reject any bill on its intro-
duction without a hearing by a vote of at least four-fifths of its total
membership. The hearing may but need not be held on a legislative
session-day and may be adjourned from time to time. After the
public hearing, a bill may be finally passed on a legislative session-day
with or without amendment; but if a bill is amended before final
passage, it shall not be passed until it is reprinted or reproduced
as amended.

(e)    Procedure for passing emergency bills. Upon introduction of
an emergency bill the president of the Board of County Commis-
sioners shall schedule a public hearing thereon, which shall not be
less than three calendar days after its introduction. The public
hearing may but need not be held on a legislative session-day and
may be adjourned from time to time. After public hearing, the bill