Title 40, Title 40: MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES

40:41A-104. Petition; percentage of registered voters required The voters of any county shall have the power of initiative and, pursuant thereto, may propose any ordinance and may adopt or reject the same at the polls. Any initiated ordinance may be submitted to the board by a pe…

40:41A-105. Power of referendum; time for filing petition The voters shall have the power of referendum and, pursuant thereto, may approve or reject at the polls any ordinance submitted by the board to the voters or any ordinance passed by the board, against which a referendum pe…

40:41A-106. Petition papers; affidavits All petition papers circulated for the purposes of an initiative or referendum shall be uniform in size and style. Initiative petition papers shall contain the full text of the proposed ordinance. The signatures to initiative or referendum …

40:41A-107. Filing of petition papers; examination; certification of result All petition papers comprising an initiative or referendum petition shall be assembled and filed with the county clerk as one instrument. Within 20 days after a petition is filed, the county clerk shall d…

40:41A-108. Amendment of initiative or referendum petition An initiative or referendum petition may be amended at any time within 10 days after the notification of insufficiency has been served by the county clerk, by filing a supplementary petition upon additional papers signed …

40:41A-109. Suspension of ordinance Upon the filing of a referendum petition with the county clerk, the ordinance shall be suspended until 10 days following a finding by the county clerk that the petition is insufficient or, if amended petition be filed, until 5 days thereafter; …

40:41A-11. Dissemination of information The charter study commission shall hold public hearings, may hold private hearings, sponsor public forums and otherwise provide for the widest possible dissemination of information and the stimulation of public discussion respecting the pur…

40:41A-110. Submission to board of freeholders Upon a finding by the county clerk that any petition or amended petition filed with him in accordance with this act is sufficient, the clerk shall submit the same to the board without delay. An initiative ordinance so submitted shall…

40:41A-111. Submission of ordinance to voters; withdrawal of petition If within 60 days of the submission of a certified petition by the county clerk the board shall fail to pass an ordinance requested by a referendum petition, the county clerk shall submit the ordinance to the v…

40:41A-112. Referendum election Any ordinance to be voted on by the voters in accordance with sections 104 through 116 of this act shall be submitted at the next general or regular county election occurring not less than 60 days after the date of final action by the board or the …

40:41A-113. Number of proposed ordinances voted upon; time between special elections Any number of proposed ordinances may be voted upon at the same election in accordance with the provisions of this article, but there shall not be more than one special election in any period of …

40:41A-114. Publication of ordinance Whenever an ordinance is to be submitted to the voters of the county at any election in accordance with this article, the clerk shall cause the ordinance to be published in the manner provided by section 142 of this act. The publication shall …

40:41A-115. Ballots The ballots to be used at such election shall be in substantially the following form: "To vote upon the public question printed below, if in favor thereof mark a cross (X) or plus (+) or check (/) in the square at the left of the word "Yes', and if opposed the…

40:41A-116. Results of election; conflicting measures If a majority of the qualified electors voting on the proposed ordinance shall vote in favor thereof, such ordinance shall thereupon become a valid and binding ordinance of the county and be published as in the case of other o…

40:41A-117. Division of county adopting a district representation system under section 40:41A-14c into districts Whenever any county adopts a district representation system as set forth in section 14c of this act, said county shall be divided into districts by the district commis…

40:41A-118. District commissioners; certification of boundaries 118. The district commissioners shall consist of four members, two to be appointed by the chairman of the county committee of each of the two political parties whose candidates for Governor receive the largest number…

40:41A-119. Meeting of district commissioners; division into districts Within 5 days following the election at which the voters of the county shall have adopted one of said optional plans, the district commissioners shall meet and, having first taken and subscribed before some of…

40:41A-12. Report and publication of findings The charter study commission shall report its findings and recommendations to the citizens of the county on or before the end of the ninth calendar month next following the date of its election in the form of a final report which it s…

40:41A-120. Boundaries of districts; population difference The district commissioners shall fix and determine the district boundaries so that each district is formed of compact and contiguous territory. The districts so created shall be as equal as possible in population. L.1972,…

40:41A-121 Report, certificate, ESRI Shapefile. 121. a. Within 30 days after the adoption of one of said optional plans, the district commissioners shall make and file their report and certificate over at least three of their signatures setting forth and properly describing the d…

40:41A-122. Notice of district boundaries; publication A notice of the district boundaries as fixed and determined by the district commissioners shall be published by the clerk of the county at least once in the manner provided by section 142 of this act within 2 weeks immediatel…

40:41A-123. Adjustments in district boundaries following census 123. Within three months following the receipt by the Governor of the official decennial census of the United States for New Jersey, the district commissioners shall meet, in the manner heretofore provided in this ar…

40:41A-124. Schedule of installation of optional plan adopted The schedule of installation of an optional plan adopted pursuant to this act shall, as provided herein, take the following course: a. An election to submit the question of adoption of an optional plan may be held at a…

40:41A-125 Adoption of the administrative code. 125. a. Any time after 60 days from the date of the organization of the first board of chosen freeholders elected under this act, the board of chosen freeholders shall adopt an administrative code organizing the administration of th…

40:41A-126. Effective date of administrative code The administrative code shall enter into effect 30 days after its adoption, but not later than May 1 following the organization of the first board of chosen freeholders elected under this act, and all theretofore existing agencies…

40:41A-127. Existing resolutions remain in force where not inconsistent Upon the effective date of the charter change, all resolutions of the county to the extent that they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this act shall remain in full force and effect until modified o…

40:41A-128. Appointments between election and time of taking office under optional plan; pending actions and proceedings a. No subordinate board, department, body, office, position or employment shall be created and, except in the case of positions created by this act, no appoint…

40:41A-129. Employees in the classified service Employees in the classified service. On the effective date of the administrative code, all officers and employees in the classified service of the county shall be transferred to the department, division or agency to which the functi…

40:41A-129.1. Counties of first class; appointment of aides; unclassified service Notwithstanding the provisions of any law to the contrary, in any county of the first class operating under the provisions of P.L.1972, c. 154 (C. 40:41A-1 et seq.), the board of freeholders may app…

40:41A-13. Recommendations The charter study commission may report and recommend: a. That a referendum be held to submit to the voters of the county the question of adopting that one of the optional forms of government set forth in articles 3 to 6, inclusive, of this act, that th…

40:41A-130. County administration of civil service The board of freeholders of any county adopting one of the plans of government set forth in this act may by resolution apply to the New Jersey Civil Service Commission for permission to administer the merit system through a count…

40:41A-131. Procedures for establishment of county department of civil service Upon passage of a resolution by the board of freeholders calling for the establishment of a county department of civil service the chief executive of the county shall transmit a copy of the resolution …

40:41A-132. Fiscal year The fiscal year of the county shall be the calendar year except as may be otherwise provided by the Local Budget Law. L.1972, c. 154, s. 132, eff. Sept. 19, 1972.

40:41A-133. Preparation and submission of budget; budgetary process The budgetary process of the county shall be subject to all requirements of the Local Budget Law (N.J.S. 40A:4-1 et seq.) and the promulgations of the Division of Local Government Services and the Local Finance B…

40:41A-134. Scope of budget and message The budget document shall be prepared by the budget officer in such form as will comply with the Local Budget Law, together with such additional schedules and analyses as he deems desirable, or as may be required or approved by the board of…

40:41A-138. Appropriation requests; allotments As part of the budget request submitted by each department, office and agency of the county to the budget officer, there shall be included a work program for the year, showing all requested appropriations broken down into monthly or …

40:41A-14. Additional recommendations If the charter study commission shall vote to recommend adoption of one of the optional forms set forth in articles 3 to 6, inclusive, of this act, it shall also consider and make findings with respect to each of the three subjects set forth …

40:41A-142. Person charged; newspapers; qualifications Whenever notice by publication is required under this act the clerk to the board of freeholders or the county counsel, whichever shall be charged by the board to do so, or any other person charged under any section of this ac…

40:41A-143. Partial invalidity If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this act shall be adjudged to be invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operati…

40:41A-144. Short title This act shall be known as the "Optional County Charter Law." L.1972, c. 154, s. 144, eff. Sept. 19, 1972.

40:41A-145.1 Election to fill vacancy on board of chosen freeholders; exception. 5. a. When any vacancy occurs on the board of chosen freeholders otherwise than by expiration of term, it shall be filled by election for the unexpired term only at the next general election occurrin…

40:41A-145.2 Interim successor selected by appropriate political party. 6. In the case of a vacancy occurring with respect to a member of the board of chosen freeholders who was elected as the candidate of a political party which at the last preceding general election held receiv…

40:41A-145.3. Selection from floor by county committee Members of the political party's county committee who are empowered to select a candidate for the vacated office shall only nominate a candidate from the floor during the selection meeting called under R.S.19:13-20 by the cha…

40:41A-146. Vacancy of all or majority of offices of members of board; certification to and appointments to temporarily fill by Governor Whenever the offices of all or a majority of the members of the board of chosen freeholders shall become vacant for any reason, the existence o…

40:41A-147. Appointees; qualifications Any person appointed by the board of chosen freeholders or the Governor to fill a vacancy either for the unexpired term or temporarily, shall have all the qualifications required by statute to qualify for election to said office, and if the …

40:41A-148. Voters empowered to change term of office Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, in any county which has adopted a form of government authorized under the provisions of P.L. 1972, c. 154 (C. 40:41A-1 et seq.), a proposition may be submitted t…