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PDF versionAN ACT to provide a newly constituted Board of Education for Dickson County elected by popular vote.
WHEREAS, population increases and shifts have occurred in Dickson County in the past ten years; and
WHEREAS, members of local Boards of Education are required by law to represent substantially equal populations; and
WHEREAS, the existing Board of Education for Dickson County is malapportioned due to population increases and shifts in population density within the county; and
WHEREAS, reapportionment of Dickson County Board of Education is now necessary to avoid unequal representation of the board; and
WHEREAS, redistricting the Board of Education to provide substantial equality of representation while maintaining staggered terms would deny numerous citizens true representation for several years; and
WHEREAS, a newly constituted Board of Education with uniform terms is the most effective method available to provide equal and effective representation of people of Dickson County; now, therefore,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. The Board of Education of Dickson County in existence on the effective date of this Act shall remain as the legally constituted Board of Education for Dickson County, until November 30, 1984, on which date this Board of Education shall be abolished.
SECTION 2. Dickson County is hereby divided into twelve (12) school districts. Each school district shall have the perimeter boundaries identical to the perimeter boundaries of each of the twelve (12) individual county commissioner districts.
SECTION 3. In the November, 1984, General Election, the qualified voters of each school district in Dickson County shall elect one (1) member to the Dickson County Board of Education who shall serve until August 31, 1988. In the August, 1988, General Election, and every four (4) years thereafter, the qualified voters of each school district in Dickson County shall elect one (1) member of the Dickson County Board of Education.
SECTION 4. Each member of the Board of Education must reside in the district he or she represents. The term of each member of the Board of Education shall be four (4) years, and until a successor is elected and qualified. The Election Commission of Dickson County shall issue to the persons elected, pursuant to this Act, a certificate of election in the same manner as other county officers. In the event of a vacancy on the board for any reason, a successor shall be elected by the county commission until the next General Election, at which time a successor shall be elected to fill the unexpired remainder of the term, if any.
SECTION 5. On September 1st of the year of their election, or as soon thereafter as is practical, the elected members of the Dickson County Board of Education shall meet at the county courthouse and take an oath of office, administered by someone authorized to administer oaths, and shall organize themselves as the Board of Education, electing one of their number as chairman.
SECTION 6. The compensation, qualification, powers, duties and liabilities of the members of the Dickson County Board of Education shall be as prescribed by general law.
SECTION 7. A majority of the members constituting the Board of Education of Dickson County shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; however, a majority of all the members constituting the Board of Education shall be required to pass or approve any measure or item of business.
SECTION 8. If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this Act, which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to that end, the provisions of this Act are declared to be severable.
SECTION 9. This Act shall have no effect unless it is approved by a majority of the number of qualified voters of Dickson County voting in an election on the questions of whether or not the Act should be approved. The ballots used in the General Election to be held in August, 1984, shall have printed on them the substance of this Act and the voters shall vote for or against its approval. The votes case on the question shall be canvassed and the results proclaimed by the county election commission and certified by it to the Secretary of State as provided by law in the case of General Elections. The same qualifications of voters voting on the question shall be the same as those required for participation in General Elections. All laws applicable to General Elections shall apply to the determination of the approval or rejection of this Act.
SECTION 10. For the purpose of approving or rejecting the provisions of this Act, as provided in Section 9, it shall be effective upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it, but for all other purposes the provisions of the Act shall be effective only upon being approved as provided in Section 9.
Passed: March 3, 1983.