| Chapter I General provisions |
| Article 1 |
The rules have been drafted and finalized in accordance with stipulations set forth under par 2, Article 23 of the Kaohsiung County Council’s Organizational Self-governance Act. |
| Article 2 |
Meetings staged by the Kaohsiung County Council, except otherwise stipulated by the Council’s Organizational Self-governance Act, shall be implemented according to the rules, and measures not specified by the rules shall meet to that stipulated by the council meeting guidelines. |
| Article 3 |
The meeting’s meeting convening, adjourning, or suspension shall be announced by the meeting chair. |
| Article 4 |
When the council convenes, the seating arrangements of the council members are to be determined through random draw, and the seating arrangements for other personnel present are to be assigned by the meeting chair.
The council’s secretary general, meeting section supervisor, legal office supervisor shall be present at the meeting, with administrative staffers allocated to execute the meeting logistics. |
| Article 5 |
When the council convenes, all attending council members and presiding personnel shall personally sign the sign-in logbook separately. |
| Article 6 |
A council member, who should be unable to attend a meeting session, shall notify the council; a presiding attendant, who should be unable to attend a meeting session, shall apply for a time leave with the council in writing, which shall be enlisted in the meeting minute. |
| Article 7 |
The council may stage a preparation meeting prior to the commencement of the first meeting session of a scheduled or interim meeting. |
| Chapter II Proposal submission |
| Article 8 |
The submission of the motioning proposals shall heed to the following stipulations,
- Proposals by the council members shall be accompanied by the joint endorsement of two or more council members; proposals relating to the county chapters and regulation shall be accompanied by the joint endorsement by one-fifth or more of the total council members.
- Proposals by the county government are to be presented through written government letters.
The foresaid proposals shall be presented in writing five days before the general assembly is convened, except any urgent proposition that has been consented by the general assembly. |
| Article 9 |
The submission of county chapters and regulations shall have the tangible provisions drafted, complete with the reason why, and the same shall also apply to all subsequent revisions. |
| Article 10 |
The council member’s interim motion or interim proposition shall be jointly endorsed or jointly motioned by four or more council members, and limited to urgent matters, which are presented within the following periods,
- Following the reportage, and prior to proposal discussion.
- Following the presentation of various proposals according to the meeting agenda and prior to the announcement of a meeting adjourned.
To determine whether the foresaid proposals should be discussed with priority or to be discussed or enlisted for discussion in the next meeting following the proposals have been reviewed according to the meeting agenda, the chairman is to determine it by motioning for the consent of over half the number of council members present. |
| Article 11 |
Of proposals presented by the council members, the proposal presenter who desires to amend the proposal may also refer to stipulations set forth under par 1 and par 2 of Artcle 43 of the Meeting Guidelines. |
| Article 12 |
The council speaker may determine that council proposals be first discussed by the general assembly, or be first reviewed by the review board, and the general assembly may determine whether all reviewed proposals are eligible to undergo the subsequent review. |
| Article 13 |
Once vetoed, and unless with the presence of a reinstatement motioning, it is not permitted for a proposal to be resubmitted within the same session.
A proposal that has been motioned for retention and has not been withdrawn in the same session shall be deemed as having been canceled. |
| Chapter III People’s petitions |
| Article 14 |
When convened, the council shall respond to petitions by the people as stipulated, and may present a meeting report when deemed necessary.
When a petitioner presents whose petition at the council, the commissioner of a relevant board, the council speaker or a designated individual shall receive such petitioner. |
| Article 15 |
The council, upon reviewing the people’s petition to reckon that a case is to sustain, shall enlist it into the meeting agenda, and one that warrants no necessity to sustain as a case shall be filed with the general assembly for retention. However, a petition that has been proposed by four or more attending council members through a joint endorsement or joint motioning in favor may still become a meeting proposal.
Of the foresaid meeting proposal that has been reckon to not fall under the jurisdiction of the council, the administration unit shall notify the petitioner. |
| Article 16 |
When the council is in recess, of any petition by the people that falls under any one of the following circumstances, the council speaker may determine to refer it to relevant government agencies for response,
- One that does not require the council’s opinions and comes with timeliness.
- One that is of an inquiry nature or of a request for referred approval.
- One that falls under the scope of administrative jurisdiction.
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| Article 17 |
When the council is in recess, of any petition by the petition that falls under any one of the following circumstances, the council speaker may determine whether to accept it or investigate the case with a response,
- One that has been found to deviate from the circumstances cited under Article 3, Article 4 of the Petition Law, or deviate from stipulations cited under Article 5 of the Petition Law.
- One that does not fall under the jurisdiction of the council.
- One that has been distributed recklessly as flyers.
- One that is identical to a previously accepted people’s petition.
- One that has been proposed by the council member and with a motioning retained on file.
The council speaker, when ruling on the people’s petition cases as cited in the preceding section or paragraph, shall present a report when the session is convened. |
| Article 18 |
The council’s referring people’s petition cases as per stipulations set forth under Article 16 may not order them to be processed in a fixed manner, but rather be retained subject to the council’s presenting its opinions for further processing to be rendered in accordance with stipulations provided under Article 14 and Article 15 when the session is convened. |
Chapter IV Council meeting agendas |
| Article 19 |
The sequence of scheduling the council’s meeting agenda is as follows,
- Meeting convened and meeting adjourned, and the time, date, month, year of convening or adjourning a meeting of each meeting session.
- Reportage measures.
- Election measures.
- Inquiry measures.
- Discussion measures.
- County government proposals.
- Council member proposals.
- People’s petition measures.
- Other crucial measures.
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| Article 20 |
The council meeting agenda, which upon drafted by the meeting agenda section and reviewed by the procedural board, shall be forwarded to all council members and the county government seven days prior to a session is to convene.
The foresaid meeting agenda shall be presented at the preparatory meeting at the time the meeting convenes.
The designated forwarding time as cited in the preceding par 1 may be waived in the wake of an interim meeting called upon on the grounds of emergency or called upon in the interim. |
| Article 21 |
Under any one of the following circumstances, the chair or the attending council members may propose a motion to change the meeting agenda,
- The proposals enlisted in the meeting agenda cannot be opened for discussion or the discussion kept from being completed as scheduled.
- Priority measures that have not been enlisted in the meeting agenda or have been enlisted but in a lower sequence of priority.
The foresaid change to the meeting agenda shall be motioned in favor by at least one-half of the attending council members. |
Chapter V Council meeting sessions |
| Article 22 |
All council meetings, except otherwise stipulated, shall be conducted openly at the council’s meeting room. |
| Article 23 |
When each of the council session convenes, the secretary general shall first check the attendant count, and when reaching the legally designated attendant count, shall promptly report to the chair to announce that the meeting has been convened. |
| Article 24 |
The council meetings shall progress in a sequential order as per the meeting agenda, and during the progress of the meeting, the chair may fittingly set a time to announce a break. |
| Article 25 |
When all proposition s enlisted in the meeting agenda has been motioned in completion, the chair shall promptly announce that the meeting has been adjourned. When the propositions have not yet been motioned while the meeting adjourning time has neared, the chair may, upon securing the consent of over half the number of council members, to fittingly extend the session time, or announce that the meeting has been adjourned. |
| Chapter VI Meeting motioning |
| Article 26 |
County chapter and regulation and budget proposals shall be motioned through the council’s tertiary reading procedure. |
| Article 27 |
At the first council reading, the chair is to recite the headline of a proposal, and in the instance where there is a need to recite the full content of a proposal, a designated individual may be assigned to do so.
Following the foresaid reciting of the proposal headline, the proposal shall be presented for review by relevant review boards. However, it may be motioned to bypass the review to proceed with the second reading or be withdrawn. |
| Article 28 |
At the second reading, proposals eligible to enter the second reading as reviewed by various review boards or as motioned through the first reading to bypass the review are presented for discussion of feasible implementation.
The foresaid council reading shall have the proposals recited, brought for discussion by sequence or by provision to derive a proposal abstract or review opinions in support of a broad-based discussion, and the attending council members may re-review the entire case of a proposal, which shall be motioned by two or more individuals and be implemented following motioning through the general assembly. |
| Article 29 |
All amendment motions shall be accompanied by a provisional motion endorsed by two or more council members, which are to be presented at the second council reading of the initial case, and shall be discussed with priority than the initial proposal.
The process flow for amending of an amended motion shall be identical. |
| Article 30 |
Before an amendment motion has been put through for motioning, the initial motion presenter may withdraw the motion upon securing a joint endorsement or the consent of the entire provisional motioning supporters. |
| Article 31 |
The third council reading shall be staged at the following meeting after the second reading. However as proposed by the meeting chair or the attending council members and as motioned by two or more individual, and motioned in favor by the general assembly, a third reading may be staged immediately following the second reading. |
| Article 32 |
At the third council reading, except when the contents of proposals are found to contradict one another or contradict the central government laws and regulations, only revision to the text is allowed, but the initial intent of the proposal may not be altered.
The third reading shall have the entire case presented for motioning. |
Chapter VII Discussions |
| Article 33 |
The attending council members who request to speak up shall first report to the chair of whose seating order, when two individuals or more making the quest, the chair may determine the sequence of order. |
| Article 34 |
The attending council members who seek to speak up shall conduct such at whose seat. |
| Article 35 |
The attending council members speaking up in relation to the same proposal shall be limited to twice, with each not exceeding ten minutes, except when permitted by the chair.
The time taken up by proposal description, query response, supplementary of factual information, task or crucial undertaking reportage, when permitted by the chair, will be unhindered by the foresaid restrictions. |
| Article 36 |
The attending council members shall speak in a concise and abridged manner, and of those that exceed the scope of a proposal or become repetitive of whose opinions, the meeting chair may interrupt the process, and cut off the power to the amplifier.
The joint proposal endorsers or motion supports may not express opinions that oppose initial proposal. |
| Article 37 |
When an attending council member questions the logistical issues or order issue, the meeting chair shall render a ruling at once.
In the instance where the foresaid ruling is contested by attending council members and motioned by two or more individuals, the chair shall put forth the ruling for motioning, and the ruling shall sustain when the complaint has failed to garner the consent of over one-half the attending council members. |
| Article 38 |
When discussing the proposals, the meeting chair may at a fitting time announce that the discussions have been concluded. |
| Article 39 |
When the attending council members motion for stopping discussing a proposal, which has been motioned by individuals, the meeting chair shall put forth the proposal for motioning.
The foresaid motioning shall be deemed that a proposal has been passed when consented by over one-half the attending council members. |
Chapter VIII Resolution motioning |
| Article 40 |
The motioning of proposals put before the council, except otherwise stipulated by the council’s organizational self-governance act and the rules, shall be voted in favor by over one-half the number of attending council members, or be deemed as having been vetoed when falling short of securing one-half of the consent; in the instance where a quotation of one-half will be reached with one ballot short, the meeting chair may participate in it by contributing one vote for the passage, or not participate in it for vetoing a proposal.
The tallying of a proposal’s motioning shall be based on the number of attending council members present and represented. |
| Article 41 |
When a motioning proposal’s discussion is concluded or the discussion has been suspended, the meeting chair shall put forth the proposal for motioning. |
| Article 42 |
The attending council members may not participate in the review and voting process on proposals that being contingent interests to themselves, and the number of head count shall be deleted when conducting the head count. |
| Article 43 |
The motioning of proposals shall heed to one of the following means,
- Verbal motioning.
- Hand-raising motioning.
- Standup motioning.
- Electronic motioning.
- Non-nominal ballot motioning.
Of the for foresaid par I through par IV methods, the meeting chair is to determine and announce it accordingly. Of the par V method, the meeting may adopt the same by securing the consent of one-half of the attending council members or through the motioning of a provisional proposal backed by three individuals or more. |
| Article 44 |
The result of the motioning shall be reported on site, and documented accordingly. |
| Article 45 |
In the progression of a meeting, any attending council member’s query on the number of attendants present that has been accounted to fall below the legally designated quorum, no proposal may be put forth for motioning. However, proposals that have been motioned prior to the head count shall remain valid. |
Chapter IX Re-motioning |
| Article 46 |
Council members who wish to restate a proposal on a proposal put forth for motioning shall come with the following requisite criteria, that,
- A motioning proposal has not yet been implemented.
- One that provides a different reason than that stated in the initial motioning proposal.
- A motioning proposal that needs to be presented at the same meeting of the following meeting of the same session shall be spaced by other propositions; one that is to be presented at the following meeting shall present proof that the presenter has been given a favorable motion of whose initial motioning proposal, and in the instance of a non-nominal ballot, it shall be proved that the initial proposal presenter has not voiced any opposition to the initial motioning proposal.
The foresaid reinstated proposals that are presented in writing before the meeting convenes shall be jointly endorsed by over one-fifth of the entire council members, and those that are presented in writing or verbally prior to the meeting is convened shall be jointly endorsed or motioned in favor by over one-third of the attending council members.
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| Article 47 |
Once a reinstated proposal has been voted as executable or vetoed, no motion may be made to reinstate a proposal. |
| Chapter X Re-review |
| Article 48 |
The council, in response to re-review cases submitted by the county government, shall review such proposals by calling a joint panel of the various review boards, and may extend invitation to the country magistrate or pertinent personnel to be present to provide description during the review process.
The above joint meetings are to be called and chaired by the original examining committee. |
| Article 49 |
A reinstated proposal, once reviewed, shall be submitted for motioning at the general assembly through the non-nominated balloting, and in the event where two-thirds of the attending council members should still be in favor of upholding the initial proposal, the initial proposal shall therefore be withstood. In the event where the consenting ballots should fall short of reaching two-thirds of the attending council members, the initial proposal will not be upheld.
In the case where the initial proposal should fell through, the initial proposal may be reopened for discussion, provided that no motion may be made for reinstating the proposal. |
Chapter XI Report hearing and inquiry |
| Article 50 |
When the council convenes for scheduled meeting, the county magistrate shall submit a written report covering the state of proposal execution concluded from the last session and the state of administration implementation during the council recess period. Various county government level-one directors and heads of various subordinate agencies shall also present a written report on the administration they oversee. The county magistrate, various level-one directors and heads of relevant subordinate agencies shall be present at the council to present an oral report.
The foresaid state of proposal execution and the state of administration written report shall be forwarded to the council for dispatching to the various council members three days prior to a council meeting is to convene. |
| Article 51 |
The council members, when having any question toward the administration report or operations report by various level-one agency directors and heads of relevant subordinate agencies, may present written or oral inquiries. |
| Article 52 |
The council member’s inquiring the various level-one agency director or heads of relevant subordinate agencies shall describe in full the subject and abide by the following stipulations
- The measures inquired shall be relevant to the county government’s administration and the job responsibility of the individual being questioned.
- The language used for the inquiries may not be of derogatory nature or based on groundless assumptions.
- Members who request to speak in order to reach pre-assumed or abstract conclusions will not be allowed to make inquiry.
- Inquiries may not extend beyond the council’s scope of authority.
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| Article 53 |
The council member’s oral inquiry shall abide by the specified time, and when the time runs short or at the end of an inquiry date, council members who have registered for inquiry but are unable to present their oral inquiries may be revamped to a written inquiry. |
| Article 54 |
In the instance where a council member’s inquiry should involve misguiding or insulting the individual being questioned, the meeting chair shall deter the questioning at once, and in the instance the deterrence should fail, the meeting chair may order the council member to withdraw from the session. |
| Article 55 |
The individual being inquired, in response to the council member’s inquiry, shall respond to the measures being inquired, and may revamp to a written response under the circumstances of incomplete data, or in need of validating the data, or unable to respond instantaneously or the time should fall short of responding.
The council members’ inquiries may not be taken as the subjects of open discussion. |
| Article 56 |
When in need of keeping the response to an inquiry from being disclosed publicly where deemed necessary, an individual being questioned may request a confidential meeting be held. |
| Article 57 |
In response to the council members’ inquiries, an individual being questioned, except under the circumstances of official secrecy or as stipulated under Article 54, may not reuse to provide answers. |
Chapter XII Review board and project taskforce |
| Article 58 |
The council, during its meeting session, may appoint three to six review boards depending on the nature of the operation to review the proposals separately, and each review board may appoint one commissioner, and one to two deputy commissioners. |
| Article 59 |
The review board’s head count, candidates and commissioner are to be selected by the council speaker from the council embers and be appointed as motioned through the general assembly, provided that each council member is limited to participating in one review board. |
| Article 60 |
When a review board convenes, the commissioner is to act as the meeting chair, and no review board meeting is to be postponed when the attendance should fall short of reaching the quorum of one-half the board seats, and all motions are to be implemented when voted in favor by one-half of the attending council members. The minority opinions may also be enlisted into the records. |
| Article 61 |
The review board may request the proposal presenter, a petitioner or the county government to dispatch personnel to provide description. However, the representatives may not joint in the discussion and motioning processes. |
| Article 62 |
The content of proposals that involve two or more review boards may allow a joint review be conducted by pertinent review board members.
The commissioner of the review board charge with the foresaid review board operations shall be the chair. |
| Article 63 |
For reviewing budget proposals and audit reports, the finance review board commissioner shall call upon the various review boards to conduct a joint review, and the commissioner shall at as the meeting chair. |
| Article 64 |
The review board, when reviewing the proposal, shall note down whose opinions or present a report, which shall be presented for discussed at the general assembly, and when deemed necessary, the commissioner shall integrate the minority opinions into the report. |
| Article 65 |
The council, when reckoning the necessity of a project study or external data gathering for measures that fall under its jurisdiction, may through the motioning of the general assembly to appoint a project taskforce. However, no project taskforce may be organized for measures that have not yet occurred or of hypothetical questions.
The particulars governing the number of persons, candidates and commissioner of a project taskforce are to be selected by the council speaker from the councilmen, and the motion is to be presented at the general assembly for motioning. As a general principle, each councilman is limited to acting as the commissioner of a taskforce, and no councilman may participate in a project taskforce when such councilman should bear a contingency relationship to the project.
Once conceived, a project taskforce is to present a finding report with the general assembly within the first year, and to continue sustain its formation, a project taskforce shall be extended subject to the general assembly’s motioning, but limited to not more than a one-year duration. |
| Article 66 |
A project taskforce, conceived to conduct study or external data gathering, shall be limited to the scope of missions the general assembly has assigned, and when deemed necessary, relevant units may be asked to provide data description.
Findings derived from a project taskforce’s study or external data gathering shall be limited to discussing at the general assembly, and may not be disclosed publicly. |
Chapter XIII Self-governance rules |
| Article 67 |
The self-governance rules the county government has drafted according to the power vested in it or as per the Self-governance Act, when forwarded to the council, shall be presented at the ensuing general assembly. |
| Article 68 |
Any deviation, change or contradiction found on the self-governance rules after submitting to the general assembly, or any that is to be governed by the self-governance rules, upon motioned, shall be notified to the county government for rectification or withdrawal from the voluntary filing.
The self-governance rules that are free of any of the foregoing stated circumstances would be consented for the voluntary filing. |
Chapter XIV Confidential meetings |
| Article 69 |
The council, at the proposal of the chair or three or more council members or presiding personnel, and as motioned through the meeting, may hold confidential meetings. At a confidential meeting, besides the council members, chair-appointed presiding personnel and session workers, no other personnel may be allowed in the session.
The foresaid personnel present shall have their names recorded individually, and the secretary general shall also report the personnel, names, job position s of the presiding personnel and session workers. |
| Article 70 |
Confidential documents derived from a confidential meeting shall be endorsed, sealed and numbered by a designated person the secretary general assigns before they are distributed to the attending council members for receipt signing, and any document that needs to be recalled shall be recalled on site when the meeting is adjourned, and none of which may be carried beyond the session venue.
Of particular logistics pertaining to the foresaid confidential documents’ typographic error, safekeeping, distribution, recall and such, the secretary general may assign designated personnel to oversee the implementation. |
| Article 71 |
At a confidential meeting, none of the attendants, presiding personnel, or the session workers may willfully divulge, disclose or made known any discussion process, state of motioning or meeting minute publicly. When in need of releasing a press release, the manuscript shall be approved and finalized by the council speaker. |
| Article 72 |
The time for releasing confidential meeting-related documents publicly shall be determined by the council speaker upon reporting to the general assembly. |
Chapter XV Meeting minute |
| Article 73 |
The council’s meeting minute shall record the following measures,
- The meeting session, the year, month date a meeting is called upon and adjourned.
- The place, date and time of each meeting held.
- The name and head count of the attendants.
- The name and position of the attendants.
- The name of the meeting chair.
- The name of the recorder.
- The report and the name, position of the report presenter.
- The state of election.
- Inquires and responses.
- Motioning proposals.
- The means of motioning and favorable count.
- Other crucial measures.
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| Article 74 |
The records of each meeting of this council should be read out by administrative staff at the beginning of the subsequent meeting. The records of the last meeting should be read before the end of that last meeting.
Should there be any errors or omissions in the above records, these may be amended with the approval of over half of the attending council members. |
| Article 75 |
The records of each scheduled or interim meeting should be printed and delivered to each council member before the next scheduled or interim meeting. |
Chapter XVI Council order |
| Article 76 |
The attending council members and presiding personnel shall abide by session order, and any attending council member who needs to withdraw halfway shall file a report with the meeting chair.
All attending council members and other attending persons should behave orderly at meetings; if leaving the meeting half way, notice need be given to the chair. The leaving of attending council members will not interfere with the meeting, unless there are not enough attending council members to continue the meeting. |
| Article 77 |
In the instance where any attending council member’s speaking up should exceed the scope of a proposal or found to involve personal questioning, the meeting chair may alter, deter or terminate whose speaking up.
In the wake of any act or disrupting the order or insult, the meeting chair may ban a council member from speaking up on that day, or order a council member to withdraw from the session venue. In the case of a gross severity, the meeting chair may refer the incident to the disciplinary board.
Of the foresaid speaking up, the other attending council members may also request the meeting chair to conclude the foresaid ruling.
When the meeting chair has alerted, deterred or terminated a council member from speaking up, and in the wake of contest filed by four or more attending council members, it shall be put forth for motioning, and in the wake that the motion should fail to garner the consent of one-half the attending council members, the meeting chair’s ruling shall be upheld. |
Chapter XVII Supplementary provisions |
| Article 78 |
The council is to set up public hearing seating, and the particulars of the public hearing rules are to be drafted and finalized by the council. |
| Article 79 |
Of the council’s motioning proposals inquiry cases and other documents that may be released publicly, the secretary general may only release such information upon file a written request seeking for the council speaker’s approval. |
| Article 80 |
The rules are to be promulgated effective on the date of announcement. |
Prescriptions
