Section 1. Proposed Amendment

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A REFERENDUM ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF MEMPHIS, SAME BEING CHAPTER 11 OF THE ACTS OF 1879, AS AMENDED, PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 11 SECTION 9 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE (HOME RULE AMENDMENT) SO AS TO ELIMINATE THE CITY COURT CLERK AS A DIVISION OF GOVERNMENT, ELIMINATE THE POSITION OF CITY COURT CLERK, AND DESIGNATE THE TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS BUREAU AS A BRANCH OF THE CITY TREASURER

WHEREAS, the Memphis City Charter was amended by Home Rule Ordinance No. 2246 and a referendum ordinance of October 9, 1975 was approved by the voters establishing the city court clerk as a new division of city government, providing for the election of a city court clerk to head the new division, and to establish the traffic violations bureau as a division of the city court clerk; and

WHEREAS, Article 11, Section 9 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee provides that it shall be the duty of the legislative body of such municipality to publish any proposal so made and to submit the same to its qualified voters at the first general election which shall be held at least sixty (60) days after such publication and such proposal shall become effective sixty (60) days after approval by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MEMPHIS, that the following proposal shall be published and submitted by the City of Memphis to its qualified voters at the first general election, which shall be held in the City of Memphis on November 8, 2016, and which shall be at least sixty (60) days after such publication:

QUESTION:

Shall the Home Rule Charter of the City of Memphis, Tennessee, be amended to eliminate the City Court Clerk as a division of government, eliminate the position of City Court Clerk, and designate the Traffic Violations Bureau as a branch of the City Treasurer by revising the Charter to read as follows?

A. That Article 35 of the Charter be amended by deleting Section 253.5 as it now stands, and substituting in lieu thereof the following:

"Sec. 253.5. Duties of administrative judge. The duties of said administrative judge shall be as follows: (1) Preside at en banc sessions of the Court; (2) Shall have sole responsibility for the docket and minute books of the City Court; (3) Promulgate and publish rules of the Court; (4) Assign cases to the divisions; (5) Ensure the preparation and filing of judicial statistics required by law or court rule; (6) Shall have the power with the advice of the other judges to select personnel for the City Courts department based on their qualifications for this type work; (7) Prepare with the advice of the other judges a budget for the City Courts to be submitted to the Mayor whose duty it shall be to add the budget as submitted by the judges to the operating budget of the City of Memphis and submit same to the Council for

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approval or amendment as now provided by law for the operating budget of the City of Memphis; (8) Request or convene conferences of judges, prosecutors and personnel to consider the status of judicial business and to expedite and improve procedures in the administration of justice; (9) In all administrative matters carry out the directives of a majority of the City Court Judges; (10) Such other duties as the Council may by ordinance prescribe."

B. That Section 258 of Article 35 of said Charter be amended by striking the words "City Court Clerk" throughout the Section and substituting in lieu thereof the words

"Administrative Judge.”

C. That Section 260 of Article 35 of said Charter be stricken in its entirety without any substitution.

D. That Section 261 of Article 35 of said Charter be stricken in its entirety without any substitution.

E. That Section 262 of Article 35 of said Charter be stricken in its entirety without any substitution.

F. That Section 263 of Article 35 of said Charter be stricken in its entirety without any substitution.

G. That Section 263.1 of Article 35 of said Charter be stricken in its entirety without any substitution.

H. That Section 269 of Article 35 of said Charter be amended and substituting in lieu thereof the following

“Sec. 269. - Process to be signed by judge. All process issuing from said court shall be signed by the judge and the judge shall have power to issue warrants for the arrest of all persons charged with violations of the ordinances of the City.”

I. That Section 271 of Article 35 of said Charter be amended and substituting in lieu thereof the following:

“Sec. 271. Costs generally in City cases. In City cases such fees and costs in such amounts as may be fixed by ordinance of said City shall be taxed, and the City Treasurer shall collect the same and pay them into the City treasury; but in no event shall the schedules of fees and costs exceed those allowed in the circuit and criminal courts of this State."

J. That Section 272 of Article 35 of said Charter be amended and substituting in lieu thereof the following:

“Sec. 272. - Fee as cost to cover issuance of warrant and other process. Every person found guilty in the City court of the City of Memphis for the violation of any ordinances of said City of Memphis shall, in addition to any fine assessed by said court, be required to pay to City Treasurer a fee as costs, in the sum of one dollar ($1.00) to cover the issuance of the warrant and other process that may be necessary in the prosecution of said cause, and the fees so collected shall be paid into the City Treasury.”

K. That Article 31 of said Charter be amended by adding to Section 209, the additional language as follows:

“Sec. 209.1 Supervision of Traffic Violations Bureau. The City Treasurer shall be responsible for the Traffic Violations Bureau. The City Treasurer shall have responsibility for preparing and submitting a budget for this office to the Mayor. The Clerk shall submit a report of his division every quarter, with the first quarterly report due on January 1, to the Mayor, the

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Administrative Judge, the Chairman of the Council and the Chairman of the Council's Budget Committee. This report should indicate the status of the Traffic Violations Bureau regarding its number of tickets properly processed through the payment of fines or decisions of the Court and the number of tickets yet uncollected and pending in court.”

Section 2. Publication of Home Rule Amendment.

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, That the Comptroller is hereby directed to cause the Ordinance to be published pursuant to provisions of Article 11, Section 9 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee.

Section 3. Delivery to Election Commission.

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, That the Comptroller of the City of Memphis shall certify adoption of this Ordinance to the Shelby County Election Commission in charge of holding the general election on November 8, 2016, and request that this proposed amendment to the Home Rule Charter of the City of Memphis be placed on the ballot.

Section 4. Proposal and preference.

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, That the Comptroller of the City of Memphis is hereby directed to deliver a copy of this Ordinance to the Shelby County Election Commission, together with a suggested proposal and the following form of preference to be placed on the ballot in an election to be held on the 8th day of November 2016:

REFERENDUM ON HOME RULE AMENDMENT TO CHARTER OF THE CITY OF MEMPHIS TO ELIMINATE THE CITY COURT CLERK AS A DIVISION OF GOVERNMENT, ELIMINATE THE POSITION OF CITY COURT CLERK, AND DESIGNATE THE TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS BUREAU AS A BRANCH OF THE CITY TREASURER

Said ordinance of the City of Memphis adopted on the _____ day of _______, 2016, providing for a referendum vote on a Home Rule Amendment to the Charter of the City of Memphis to read as follows?

Shall the Home Rule Charter of the City of Memphis, Tennessee, be amended to eliminate the City Court Clerk as a division of government, eliminate the position of City Court Clerk, and designate the Traffic Violations Bureau as a branch of the City Treasurer by revising the Charter to read as follows?

A. That Article 35 of the Charter be amended by deleting Section 253.5 as it now stands, and substituting in lieu thereof the following:

"Sec. 253.5. Duties of administrative judge. The duties of said administrative judge shall be as follows: (1) Preside at en banc sessions of the Court; (2) Shall have sole responsibility for the docket and minute books of the City Court; (3) Promulgate and publish rules of the

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Court; (4) Assign cases to the divisions; (5) Ensure the preparation and filing of judicial statistics required by law or court rule; (6) Shall have the power with the advice of the other judges to select personnel for the City Courts department based on their qualifications for this type work; (7) Prepare with the advice of the other judges a budget for the City Courts to be submitted to the Mayor whose duty it shall be to add the budget as submitted by the judges to the operating budget of the City of Memphis and submit same to the Council for approval or amendment as now provided by law for the operating budget of the City of Memphis; (8) Request or convene conferences of judges, prosecutors and personnel to consider the status of judicial business and to expedite and improve procedures in the administration of justice; (9) In all administrative matters carry out the directives of a majority of the City Court Judges; (10) Such other duties as the Council may by ordinance prescribe."