Title 61, VILLAGES

Sec. 1. This act is the charter for all villages incorporated under this act.

Sec. 12. A village incorporated under this act is a body politic and corporate under the name designated for it upon incorporation. By that name, the village may sue and be sued, contract and be contracted with, acquire and hold real and personal property for the purposes for whi…

Sec. 1a. As used in this act: (a) "Appointed officer" means any officer, except an officer who is appointed to fill an elective but vacant seat on the council. (b) "Civil infraction action", "municipal civil infraction", and, except as used in section 2 of chapter VI, "civil infr…

Sec. 1b. No provision of this act shall apply or be construed as having heretofore applied to any village incorporated or reincorporated under Act No. 278 of the Public Acts of 1909, as amended, being sections 78.1 to 78.28 of the Compiled Laws of 1948, unless specifically adopte…

Sec. 1c. Notwithstanding any provision of this act, if an emergency financial manager has been appointed under the local government fiscal responsibility act, Act No. 101 of the Public Acts of 1988, being sections 141.1101 to 141.1118 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, with respect t…

Sec. 1d. Beginning on the effective date of the amendatory act that added this section, a village shall not adopt a village charter or ordinance that includes any minimum staffing requirement for village employees. Except as otherwise provided in this section, any provision in a …

Sec. 1. (1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3), in each village, the following officers shall be elected: a president, 6 trustees, 1 clerk, and 1 treasurer. The president and trustees constitute the council. In all votes for which not less than a majority vote of counc…

Sec. 10. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2), the resignation of a village officer must be made to the village president, and the resignation is effective upon receipt by the village president. (2) The resignation of the village president must be made to the villag…

Sec. 11. If any elected officer shall cease to be a resident of the village during his or her term of office, the office shall be thereby vacated. If any officer is alleged to be in default as defined in section 7 of this chapter, the office shall be declared vacated.

Sec. 12. If any person elected or appointed to office fails to give or maintain the bond or security required for the due performance of the duties of his or her office, within the time specified under section 8 or 9 of this chapter, the council shall declare the office vacant, u…

Sec. 13. (1) A vacancy occurring in the office of president, trustee, or any other elective office must be filled by appointment by the council, and the appointee shall hold office until the next regular village election. All vacancies in any other office must be filled by the pr…

Sec. 14. The resignation or removal of an officer or the appointment or election of a successor to the officer does not exonerate the officer or the officer's sureties from any liability incurred by the officer or the officer's sureties.

Sec. 15. When an officer resigns or is removed from office, or when the elected term of office expires, he or she shall deliver over to his or her successor in office books, papers, money, evidence of debt, and other property as required by section 480 of the Michigan penal code,…

Sec. 2. (1) The president may nominate and the council appoint such officers as shall be provided for by resolution or ordinance of the council. The council may provide by ordinance or resolution for the appointment of other officers whose election or appointment is not specifica…

Sec. 3. Except for an appointment to fill a vacancy or unless a different time is prescribed in the ordinance or resolution creating the office, an appointment to a village office shall be made at the first village council meeting after the qualification of a council member who i…

Sec. 4. Unless otherwise provided by ordinance, the president, clerk, and treasurer hold their respective offices for the term of 2 years and until their successors are elected and qualified. The term of office for a president, clerk, or treasurer elected at the village's regular…

Sec. 5. Except as otherwise provided in this section, 3 village trustees must be elected at each biennial village election for the term of 4 years and until their successors are qualified. As an alternative, if provided by an ordinance adopted by the village, all 6 village truste…

Sec. 5a. (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, the village may pass a resolution to provide for the terms of office of its elected officials and for the terms to be staggered. (2) The initial terms established under subsection (1) may be longer than allowed under t…

Sec. 6. Except for an officer appointed to fill a vacancy in an elective office, an appointive village officer holds the office for 2 years after the date of the appointment or until the village's next regular election, whichever is earlier, and until the officer's successor is a…

Sec. 7. (1) A person shall not be elected to an office unless he or she is an elector of the village. (2) A person in default to the village is not eligible for any office in the village. All votes in an election for or any appointment of a person in default to the village are vo…

Sec. 8. Every officer elected or appointed in the village, before entering upon the duties of his office, and within the time prescribed for filing his official oath, shall file with the village clerk such bond or security as may be required by law, or by any ordinance or resolut…

Sec. 9. The council may, at any time, require any officer to execute and file with the clerk additional or new official bonds, with such new or further sureties as said council shall deem requisite for the interest of the corporation. Any failure to comply with such requirement w…

Sec. 1. (1) An election under this act shall be held at a place in the village as the council designates. (2) Notwithstanding a charter provision or ordinance providing otherwise, the day on which a village holds its regular or a special election is governed by the Michigan elect…

Sec. 14. A petition under section 13 of chapter II, section 8 of chapter V, or section 18a of chapter XIV, including the circulation and signing of the petition, is subject to section 488 of the Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL 168.488. A person who violates a provision of…

Sec. 2. Special elections may be called by resolution of the council. The resolution shall state the purpose and object of and, subject to section 1 of this chapter, the date of the election.

Sec. 3. Notwithstanding a charter provision or ordinance to the contrary, village elections shall be nonpartisan.

Sec. 4. An individual who is a registered elector of the township in which the village is located and who is a resident of the village may vote at any election in the village.

Sec. 7. (1) All elections in the village shall be conducted as nearly as may be in the manner provided by the Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL 168.1 to 168.992, for holding general elections in the state, except as provided in this act. (2) If at any election vacancies are…

Sec. 1. The president is the chief executive officer of the village. He or she shall preside at the meetings of the council. The president is a voting member of the council. The president shall give the council information concerning the affairs of the village, and recommend meas…

Sec. 10. The treasurer shall report to the clerk on the first Monday of every month, if required, the amounts received and credited to each fund, on what account received, the amounts paid out from each fund during the preceding month, and the amount of money remaining in each fu…

Sec. 11. The treasurer shall take vouchers for all money paid from the treasury, showing the amount and fund from which payment was made. Upon settlement of the vouchers with the proper officers of the village, the treasurer shall file the vouchers with the clerk.

Sec. 12. The treasurer shall keep all village money in depository accounts authorized by law. The treasurer shall not use, either directly or indirectly, the village money, warrants, or evidences of debt for his or her own use or benefit, or that of any other person. On proof of …

Sec. 12a. The functions of the village treasurer are subject to an ordinance adopted under section 8 of chapter V.

Sec. 2. The president is a conservator of the peace and may exercise within the village the power to suppress disorder. The president may command the assistance of all able-bodied citizens to aid in the enforcement of the ordinances of the council in cases of emergency or disaste…

Sec. 21. The president and each trustee shall receive compensation for the performance of the duties of the office of president or trustee only as provided by ordinance. The ordinance shall specify how the compensation is determined due and paid. Except as otherwise provided by l…

Sec. 3. The president may suspend any officer authorized by this act or appointed pursuant to this act for neglect of duty, and with the approval of the council remove any officer appointed by the council when the president considers it in the public interest. The president may a…

Sec. 4. In the absence or disability of the president, the president pro tempore of the council shall perform the duties of the president.

Sec. 5. (1) The clerk shall keep the corporate seal and all the documents, official bonds, papers, files, and records of the village, not by this act or the ordinances of the village entrusted to some other officer. The clerk is the clerk of the council and shall attend its meeti…

Sec. 6. (1) The clerk shall be the general accountant of the village. (2) Claims against the village shall be filed with the clerk for adjustment. After examination, the clerk shall report the claims, with the accompanying vouchers and counterclaims of the village, and the true b…

Sec. 7. Unless otherwise provided by ordinance, the clerk shall do all of the following: (a) Have charge of all the books, vouchers, and documents relating to the accounts, contracts, debts, and revenues of the corporation. (b) Countersign and register all bonds issued, and keep …

Sec. 8. The clerk shall report to the council, whenever required, a detailed statement of the receipts, expenditures, and financial condition of the village, of the debts to be paid, and moneys necessary to meet the estimated expenses of the corporation, and shall perform such ot…

Sec. 8a. The functions of the village clerk are subject to an ordinance adopted under section 8 of chapter V.

Sec. 9. The treasurer shall do all of the following: (a) Have the custody of all money, bonds other than official bonds filed with the clerk under chapter II, mortgages, notes, leases, and evidences of value belonging to the village. (b) Receive all money belonging to, and receiv…

Sec. 1. The legislative authority of villages shall be vested in the council.

Sec. 2. The president shall be president of the council, and preside at the meetings of the council.

Sec. 3. (1) On December 1 of each year, or as soon after that date as possible, the council shall appoint 1 of their number president pro tempore of the council. (2) In the absence of the president, the president pro tempore presides at the council meetings, and exercises the pow…

Sec. 4. The council shall hold regular meetings for the transaction of business, at times as it shall prescribe, at least 1 shall be held in each month. The business which the village council may perform shall be conducted at a public meeting held in compliance with Act. No. 267 …

Sec. 5. (1) The council shall prescribe the rules of its own proceedings, and shall keep a record of those proceedings. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a majority of the members of council are a quorum for the transaction of business. A majority of the members of co…

Sec. 7. (1) The council shall audit and allow all accounts chargeable against the village. An account or claim or contract shall not be received for audit or allowance unless it is accompanied with a certificate of an officer of the village, or an affidavit of the person renderin…

Sec. 8. (1) The council may employ a village manager. (2) The manager shall serve at the pleasure of the council. (3) The council may enter into an employment contract with a village manager for a period extending beyond the terms of the members of council but not exceeding 6 yea…