§ 202. The County Council.

The legislative power of the County is vested in the County Council of Howard County which shall consist of five members who shall be elected from the Councilmanic Districts.

(a)

Mode of election. Each of the members of the Council shall be nominated and elected by the qualified voters of the Councilmanic District in which he or she resides. Each Councilmanic District shall elect one Council member.

(b)

Qualifications.

1. In General. Each candidate for the council shall have resided in the County for a period of not less than two years immediately prior to nomination; shall be a registered voter; and shall be a resident of the Council District which the candidate seeks to represent at the time of filing for candidacy and during the full term of office; and shall not be less than twenty-five years of age at the time of election.

2. Other Offices or Employment. No person shall qualify or serve as a member of the council: while holding any other office of profit or trust of or under the State or County government; while employed by the County; or while employed by any agency, board, commission, unit or other entity which receives funds through the County budget. No member of the Council shall, during the whole term for which he or she was elected, be eligible for appointment to any County office or position or be eligible for employment by the County.

3. Forfeiture of Office. If a member of the Council ceases to be a qualified and registered voter of the County, moves his or her residence from the councilmanic district he or she was elected to represent, accepts any other office of profit or trust of or under the state or county government, becomes employed by the County or any other entity which receives funds through the County budget, or is convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude, he or she shall immediately forfeit his or her office.

(c)

Term of office. Members of the Council shall qualify for office on the first Monday in December following their election, or as soon thereafter as practicable and shall enter upon the duties of their office immediately upon their qualification. They shall hold office for a term of four years commencing at the time of their qualification and continuing until their successors shall qualify. A person who has been elected to the County Council three times or who has been elected to the County Council twice and has been appointed to fill a Council vacancy and served two or more years of that term shall be ineligible to be a candidate for the County Council. In determining eligibility of a candidate pursuant to this subsection, no term or part of any term served prior to the election of November 6, 1990, shall be used in calculating the limitation on number of terms a Council member may serve.

(d)

Compensation and allowances. Each member of the Council shall receive as compensation and allowances for the performance of public duties under this Charter the sum of not less than Seventy-eight Hundred Dollars ($7,800.00) per annum and shall not accrue annual leave or be entitled to any payment in lieu thereof. The compensation and allowances shall be in full compensation for all services required by this Charter to be performed by the members of the Council, but shall not preclude reasonable and necessary expenses as may be provided in the budget. The County Council shall establish a Compensation Review Commission every four years to review the Council's compensation and allowances in accordance with the provisions of Article 25A Subsection 5(AA) of the Annotated Code of Maryland.

(e)

Vacancies. Unless provision for filling a vacancy by special election has been established by ordinance, a vacancy occurring in the office of the Council member prior to the expiration of his or her term shall be filled by the Council within thirty days after the vacancy occurs by the appointment of a person whose name is to be submitted in writing to the Council by the State Central Committee of Howard County representing the political party to which the previous member belonged at the time of the member's most recent election. If a name is not submitted by the appropriate State Central Committee within twenty-five days after the vacancy occurs or if the previous incumbent was not a member of a political party at the time of the member's most recent election, then the vacancy shall be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members of the Council. The member so appointed shall reside in the same Councilmanic District as his or her predecessor and shall possess and maintain the same qualifications as an elected Council member. The member so appointed shall serve the unexpired term of his or her predecessor.

(f)

Redistricting.

1.

Boundaries.

The Council shall appoint, by resolution, not later than April 1 of the year after each decennial census date, a Councilmanic Redistricting Commission. The Central Committee of each political party which polled at least twenty-five per centum of the total vote cast for all the candidates for the Office of County Executive in the last preceding general election shall nominate three persons to serve on the Commission. The Council shall appoint all such nominees as members of the Commission as well as one additional member of the Commission. The Council shall appoint the Chairperson of the Commission from among the Commission members. No person shall be eligible for appointment to the Commission who holds elective office.

By October 15 of the year in which the Commission is appointed, the Commission shall prepare a plan of Councilmanic Districts and shall present that plan to the Council. Within thirty days after receiving the plan of the Commission, the Council shall hold a public hearing on the plan. If by March 15 of the year following submission of the plan, no ordinance re-establishing the boundaries of the Councilmanic Districts has been enacted, then the plan as submitted by the Commission shall become law. Any Councilmanic District established in accordance with this Article shall be compact, contiguous, substantially equal in population, and have common interest as a result of geography, history, or existing political boundaries. Any ordinance establishing Councilmanic Districts shall be exempt from referendum.

The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall take any necessary steps to implement any such revisions of the Councilmanic District Boundaries so adopted.

(g)

Planning and zoning.

1. Any amendment, restatement or revision to the Howard County General Plan, the Howard County Zoning Regulations or Howard County Zoning Maps, other than a reclassification map amendment established under the "change and mistake" principle set out by the Maryland Court of Appeals, is declared to be a legislative act and may be passed only by the Howard County Council by original bill in accordance with the legislative procedure set forth in Section 209 of the Howard County Charter. Such an act shall be subject to executive veto and may be petitioned to referendum by the people of the county pursuant to Section 211 of the Charter.

Editor's note— An amendment to § 202 proposed by C.B. 5, 1974 was approved at an election held Nov. 7. 1974. An amendment proposed by C.B. 55, 1980 was approved at an election held Nov. 4, 1980, and became effective Dec. 4, 1980. The amendment proposed by Res. No. 119, 1982 was approved at an election held Nov. 2, 1982, and became effective Dec. 2, 1982. A further amendment proposed by petition was approved at an election held Nov. 6, 1984, and became effective Dec. 6, 1984. Amendments proposed by Res. Nos. 109—112, 1988 were approved at an election held Nov. 8, 1988, and became effective Dec. 8, 1988. An amendment to § 202(d) proposed by Res. No. 2, 1990 was approved at an election held Nov. 6, 1990, and became effective Dec. 6, 1990. An amendment to § 202(c), limiting the terms of the council, was proposed by petition and was approved at an election held Nov. 3, 1992, and became effective Dec. 3, 1992. An amendment to § 202(g), to provide that certain zoning plans, regulations, and maps be adopted as council bills, was proposed by petition of registered voters and was approved at an election held on Nov. 8, 1994, and became effective Dec. 8, 1994. An amendment to § 202(b) proposed by Res. No. 111, 1996 was approved at an election held on Nov. 5, 1996, and became effective Dec. 5, 1996. An amendment to § 202(f)1. proposed by Res. No. 112, 1996 was approved at an election held on Nov. 5, 1996, and became effective Dec. 5, 1996. An amendment to § 202(b)2., 3. proposed by Res. No. 126, 1996 was approved at an election held on Nov. 5, 1996, and became effective Dec. 5, 1996. An amendment to § 202(e) proposed by Res. No. 74-2004 was approved at an election held on Nov. 2, 2004 and became effective on Dec. 2, 2004. An amendment to § 202(f) proposed by Res. No. 100, 2012 was approved at an election held on Nov. 6, 2012, and became effective on Dec. 6, 2012.