Rules of Procedure and Organization of the County Council

Home

RULE NO. 13 MOTIONS 1. All deliberation and discussion on an agenda item must take place after the item has been read into the record and a motion is pending on the floor. (Section 43, Robert’s Rules of Order) 2. A Council Member must be recognized by the Chairperson before making a motion. A Council Member need not be recognized by the Chairperson before that Council Member seconds a motion; the Council Member making the second just needs to state for the recorThe Chairperson shallrepeat the names of the persons making the motion and the second, and shallalso restate the motion. No motion may be received and considered by the Council or a Committee until the same has been seconded. (Section 4, Robert’s Rules of Order) 3. After a motion is stated or read, it is deemed to be in the possession of the Council or Committee, and it shall be disposed of by vote of that body. However, any motion may be withdrawn by the member making the motion without consent of the corresponding second at any time before a decision or amendment. (Section 33, Robert’s Rules of Order) 4. Whenever any question is under discussion, the precedence of commonly used motions thereto shall be to: (a) Lay on the table. Thismotion is to interrupt the pending business temporarily when something else of immediate urgency has arisen and is out of order if the evident intent is to kill or avoid dealing with a measure. So long as the question remains on the table, the decision when or if it will be taken up is left open until resumed for discussion by a majority vote at the current meeting or until close of the next regular meeting. A question laid on the table can remain live only until the end of the next regular meeting, and, unless taken from the table earlier, the matter dies with the adjournment of that meeting. This motion is not debatable. (Example: “I move to lay Resolution ‘X’ on the table.) (Section 17, Robert’s Rules of Order) 13-1