County Commission | The Magazine March 2019 | Page 37

NEWS YOU CAN USE
Making Decisions at Home with
Amendment 909
M
For that reason, counties have
been understandably cautious
about utilizing Amendment
909, although it has been in
effect for several years.
Last year, ACCA
initiated extensive
conversations with
the Department
of Examiners
about proper
implementation of
the amendment,
which resulted in two
sample Amendment
909 programs that have
already been vetted and
approved by the examiners.
Montgomery County
went first, and Reynolds expects
another half dozen to establish
programs in the next six months.
What Amendment 909 Authorizes
Amendment 909 authorizes the
county commission in each county,
except Jefferson, to administratively
establish certain programs, policies and
procedures related to county affairs
without having a specific general law
on the subject and without the need
for passage of a local law.
ore and more counties are
utilizing a relatively new part
of the Alabama Constitution to do
things by commission action that
were once only possible with local
legislation.
“Before you put together a local
law, spend the money on advertising
the proposed bill for four weeks and
go through the rigamarole of trying
to get all your legislators on board,
look at Amendment 909,” said
Terri Reynolds, ACCA Legislative
Counsel. “Make sure that you don’t
already have the authority to do
whatever it is you’re trying to do.”
For example, Amendment
909 specifically authorizes giving
retiring deputies their pistols and
badges. Any county considering
local legislation to authorize this in
2019 can scrap that project because
there is general authority now, as
long as a simple, three-step process
is followed.
The general authority to
establish programs, policies and
procedures relating to county
personnel is fairly broad, and the
amendment specifically greenlights
initiatives including employee
recognition and appreciation
programs and programs to
incentivize employee attendance,
safety and performance.
“When you think of creating a
program like that, clearly you can’t
do the program without spending
public funds on county employees.
Well, the general rule has been that
you can’t spend public funds on
these sorts of events,” Reynolds said.
Personnel is one of the five areas
in which this authority can be used,
providing a three-step process is
followed.
“Over the course of two
regularly-scheduled meetings,
you can get these programs
implemented,” Reynolds said.
At the first of those meetings, the
commission must announce that it
More About Amendment 909
www.alabamacounties.org/amendment909
Sample Policies*
*Approved by the Department of Examiners
• End-of-Year Employee Recognition and Appreciation Program
• Annual Employee Safety Recognition Program
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