1981-035 NOTE Amended by Ordinance No 90-026
NOTE Repealed by Ordinance No 2001-193
AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR THE CITY COUNCIL
OF DENTON, TEXAS, PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AMENDING
ORDINANCE NO 76-48, AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE
WHEREAS, the Constitution and Laws of the State of Texas,
and the City Charter of the City of Denton, Texas, authorize
the City Council of said City to promulgate and establish rules
of procedure to govern and conduct meetings, order of business,
decorum, etc , while acting as a legislative body representing
said City, and
WHEREAS, because of its desire to effectively and
efficiently serve the public through the medium of public
meetings it has become necessary to amend the guidelines
relating to proper conduct of all parties present for such
meetings, now, therefore,
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, HEREBY ORDAINS
SECTION I
Ordinance No 76-48 is hereby amended to read as follows
1 AUTHORITY
1 1 Charter Pursuant to the provisions of Section ? 07
of the Charter of the City of Denton, Texas, the City Council
hereby enacts these rules of procedure for all meetings of the
City Council of the City of Denton, Texas
During any meeting a reasonable opportunity shall be given
for citizens to be heard under these rules These Rules of
Procedure are enacted as guidelines to be followed by all
persons in the Council Chamber including the City
Administrative Staff, news media, and v~sltors
2 GENERAL RULES
2 1 Meetings to be Public Ail offlc:al meetings of the
Council, except executive meetings or sess:ons permitted by the
Texas Open Meetings Law, and all sessions of a Committee of the
Council shall be open to the public
2 2 Quorum Four members of the Council shall constitute
a quorum for the transaction of business (Charter, Section
2 06)
2 5 C__ompell~ng Attendance No member shall be excused
from attendance at a Council meeting except for good and valid
reasons
2 4 Misconduct The Council may punish ~ts own members
for misconduct
2 S M~nutes of Meetings An account of all proceedings of
the Council shall be kept by the C~ty Secretary and shall be
entered in a book constxtutlng the official record of the
Council
2 6 Questxons to Contain One Subject Ail questions
submitted for a vote shall contain only one subject If two or
more points are involved, any member may reqmre a division, if
the question reasonably admits of a division
2 7 R~ght of Floor Any member desxr~ng to speak shall be
recognized by the Chairman, and shall confine his or her
remarks to the sub3ect under consideration or to be
considered No member shall be allowed to speak more than once
on any one subject until every member wishing to speak shall
have spoken
2 8 City Manager The City Manager, or Acting Ctty
Manager, shall attend all meeting of the Council unless
excused He may make recommendations to the Council and shall
have the r~ght to take part in all discussions of the Council,
but shall have no vote (Charter, Section $ 05(d))
2 9 City Attorney The City Attorney, or Acting C~ty
Attorney, shall be available upon request for all meetings of
the Council unless excused and shall, upon request, give an
op~n~on, either written or oral, on questions of law The City
Attorney shall act as the Council's Parliamentarian
RULES ~ REGULATIONS PAGE 2
2 10 City Secretary The City Secretary, or Acting C~ty
Secretary, shall attend all meetxngs of the Council unless
excused, and shall keep the offxc~al m~nutes and perform such
other dutxes as may be requested of hxm by the Council
2 11 Officers and Employees Any officer or employee of
the City, when requested by the C~ty Manager, shall attend any
meetxng of the Councxl If requested to do so by the C~ty
Manager, they may present xnformatxon relatxng to matters
before the Council
2 12 Rules of Order These rules govern the proceedxngs of
the Council ~n all cases, except that where these rules are
sxlent, the most recent Edxtxon of Roberts Rules of Order
revxsed shall govern
2 13 Suspensxon of Rules Any provision of these rules not
governed by the Cxty Charter or Code may be temporarily
suspended by the aff~rmatxve vote of four members of the
Councxl The vote on any such suspensxon shall be taken by
yeas and noes and entered ~n the mxnutes of the Council
2 14 Amendment of Rules These rules may be amended, or
new rules adopted by the affxrmat~ve vote of four members of
the Council, prowded that the proposed amendments or new rules
shall have been ~ntroduced before the C~ty Council at a prior
Council meeting
3 CODE OF CONDUCT
5 i Counc~lmembers
(a) Durxng Councxl meetings, Councxlmembers shall preserve
order and decorum and shall nexther by conversation or
otherwxse delay or ~nterrupt the proceedxngs nor refuse to obey
the orders of the Mayor (or Cha~rman) or the rules of the
Councxl
(b) A counc~lperson, once recognxzed, shall not be
xnterrupted whxle speaking unless called to order by the Mayor
RULES ~ REGULATIONS PAGE 3
(or Chairman), unless a point of order ~s raised by another
member or the parliamentarian, or unless the speaker chooses to
y~eld to questions from another member If a Counc~lperson is
called to order wh~le he ~s speaking, he shall cease speaking
immediately until the question of order ~s determined If
ruled to be ~n order, he shall be permitted to proceed If
ruled to be not ~n order, he shall remain s~lent or shall alter
h~s remarks so as to comply w~th rules of the Council
3 2 Administrative Staff
(a) Members of the admxnxstratxve staff and employees of
the Cxty shall observe the same rules or vrocedure and decorum
applxcable to members of the Councxl, and shall have no voxce
unless and untx] recognized by the Chaxr
(b) Whxle the presxdxng offxcer shall have the authorxty
to preserve decorum xn meetxngs as far as staff members and
Cxty employees are concerned, the Cxty Manager also shall be
responsxble for the orderly conduct and decorum of all Cxty
employees under hxs dxrectxon and control
(c) The Cxty Manager shall take such dxsc~plxnary action
as may be necessary to insure that such decorum xs preserved at
all txmes by Cxty employees ~n Councxl meetxngs
(d) All remarks and questxons addressed to the Council
shall be addressed to the Council as a whole and not to any
xndxvldual member thereof
(e) No staff member, other than a staff member havxng the
floor, shall enter xnto any dxscussxon e~ther dxrectly or
xndxrectly w~thout permxssxon of the presxdxng offxcer
5 3 C~txzens:
(a) C~txzens are welcome and xnvxted to attend ali
meetxngs of the Council, and w~ll be admitted to the Councxl
Chamber up to the fxre safety capacxty of the room
RULES ~ REGULATIONS PAGE
{b} Ail citizens will refrain from private conversations
~n the Chamber wh~le the Council ~s ~n session
(c) Citizens attending Council meetings shall observe the
same rules of propr~etry, decorum, and good conduct applicable
to the administrative staff Any person making personal,
impertinent, or slanderous remarks or who becomes boisterous
wh~le addressing the Council or wh~le attending the Council
meeting shall be removed from the room ~f the Sergeant-at-Arms
is so directed by the presiding officer, and such person shall
be barred from further audience before the Council during that
session of the Council
[d) Unauthorized remarks from the audience, stamping of
feet, whistles, yells, and s~mllar demonstrations shall not be
perm~ttd by the presiding officer, who shall direct the
Sergeant-at-Arms to remove such offenders from the room In
case the presiding officer shall fall to act, any member of the
Council may move to require him to act to enforce the rules,
and the affirmative vote of four {4) members of the Council
shall require the presiding officer to act
{e} No placards, banners or s~gns of any k~nd will be
permitted in the Council Chamber except e×hlb~ts, d~splays and
wsual a~ds used in connection with presentations to the
Council prowded that such exhibits, d~splays and visual a~ds
do not d~srupt the meeting
$ 4 Enforcement
The City Manager, in the absence of a designated law
enforcement officer, shall act as Sergeant-at-Arms for the
Council, and shall furnish whatever assistance ~s needed to
enforce the rules of decorum here~n established
3 S Seating Arrangement
The C~ty Secretary, C~ty Manager and C~ty Attorney shall
occupy the respective seats in the Council Chamber assigned to
RULES ~ REGULATIONS PAGE 5
them by the Mayor, but any two or more members of the Council
may exchange seats
4 TYPES OF MEETINGS
4 1 Regular Meetings The Council shall meet at seven
o'clock p m on the first and third Tuesday of each month or at
any other times set by the Council, unless postponed or
canceled for valid reasons All regular meetings of the
Council will be held in the Municipal Bulldlng at 215 East
McK~nney Street
4 2 Special Meetings Special meetlngs may be called by
the Mayor, the C~ty Manager, or by any three members of the
Council The call for a special meeting shall be f~led w~th
the City Secretary ~n written form, and he shall post notice
thereof as provided by law
4 S Emergency Meetings In case of emergency or urgent
public necessity, which shall be expressed ~n the notice of the
meeting, an emergency meeting may be called by the Mayor, the
Cxty Manager or by three members o£ the Council, and ~t shall
be sufficient ~£ the not~ce ~s posted two hours before the
meeting is convened
4 4 Executive Meetings The Council may meet ~n an
executive meeting or session pursuant to the reqmrements of
the Texas Open Meetings Law (Article 6252-17, V T C S )
4 5 Recessed Meetings Any meeting of the Council may be
recessed to a later t~me, prowded that no recess shall be for
a longer per~od than until the next regular meeting
4 6 Not~ce of Meetings The agenda for all meetings shall
be posted by the City Secretary on the C~ty's official bulletin
board and notice o£ all meetings shall be g~ven by the C~ty
Secretary pursuant to the reqmrements of the Texas Open
Meetings Law (Article 6252-17, V T C S )
RULES ~ REGULATIONS PAGE 6
S CHAIRMAN AND DUTIES
S 1 Chairman The Mayor, or in his absence, the Mayor
Pro-Tem, shall preside as Chairman at all meetings of the
Council In the absence of both the Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem,
the Council shall elect a temporary Chairman (Charter,
Section 2 07)
S 2 Call to Order The meetings of the Council shall be
called to order by the Mayor, or in his absence, by the Mayor
Pro-Tern In the absence of both the Mayor and the Mayor
Pro-Tem, the meeting shall be called to order by the City
Secretary, and a temporary Chairman shall be elected as
provided above
$ 5 Preservation of Order The Chairman shall preserve
order and decorum, and confine members in debate to the
question under discussion The Chairman shall call upon the
Sergeant-at-Arms as necessary to enforce compliance with the
rules contained herein
S 4 Points of Order The Chairman shall determine all
points of order, subject to the right of any member to appeal
to the Council If any appeal is taken, the question shall be,
"Shall the decision of the Chairman be sustainedv'' If a
maoorlty of the members presents vote "No", the ruling of the
chair is overruled, otherwise, it is sustained
S S Questions to be Stated The Chairman shall state all
questions submitted for a vote and announce the result A roll
call vote shall be taken upon the request of any member, and
upon the passage of all ordinances and resolutions
$ 6 Substitution for Chairman The Chairman may call any
other member to take his place in the chair, such substitution
not to continue beyond adoournment
S 7 Call for Recess The Chairman may call for a recess
of up to fifteen (1S) minutes at regular intervals of
RULES ~ REGULATIONS PAGE 7
approxxmately one hour at appropriate points ~n the meeting
agenda, or ~f requested by any two members
6 ORDER OF BUSINESS
6 1 Agenda The order of bus~ness of each meeting shall
be as contazned xn the agenda prepared by the Cxty Manager
The agenda shall be a l~stxng by topzc of subjects to be
consxdered by the Councxl Conduct of busxness at Specxal
Meettngs will hkewlse be governed by an agenda and rules of
procedure contaxned herexn
6 2 Presentatxons by Members of Councxl The agenda shall
prowde a txme when the Mayor or any Councxlperson may bring
before the Counczl any business that he feels should be
delxberated upon by the Councxl These matters need not be
specxfxcally lxsted on the agenda, but d~scussxon and formal
actxon on such matters shall be deferred untzl a subsequent
Counczl meetxng
6 3 Presentatxon by Cxtxzens Any person who wxshes to
place a subject on the Counczl agenda shall adwse the Cxty
Manager's Offxce of that fact and the specxfxed subject matter
to whzch he desxres to place on the agenda no later than 5 00
P M Wednesday prxor to the Counczl meeting at which he wzshes
the desxgnated subject to be conszdered Any person who wxshes
to address the Counczl wxthout havxng made thxs preparatzon
must have the unanxmous consent of the Councxl and w~11 be
scheduled after all other regular busxness on the agenda has
been completed Thzs rule does not apply to anyone appearxng
at a publxc hearxng xn response to an offxcxal agenda notxce
6 ~ Txme Lzm~t Speakers before the Council are requested
to lxmzt thezr remarks to fxve (5) mnutes or less
6 5 Oral Presentatxons by C~ty Manager Matters reqmr~ng
the Council's attentxon or actxon whzch may have developed
sxnce the deadlxne for delxvery of the wrxtten communxcatzon to
RULES ~ REGULATIONS PAGE 8
the Council may be presented orally by the City Manager If
formal Council action on a subject is reqmred, such action may
be taken provided the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Law
have been satisfied
7 CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCES~ RESOLUTIONS~ AND MOTIONS
7 1 Printed or Typewritten Form Ail ordinances and
resolutions shall be presented to the Council ~n printed or
typewritten form The Council may, by proper motion, amend any
ordinance or resolution presented to ~t and d~rect that the
amended ordinance be placed on the next Council Agenda for
adoption
7 2 C~ty Attorney to Approve Ali ordinances,
resolutions, and contracts and amendments thereto, shall be
approved as to form and legality by the C~ty Attorney, or he
shall f~le h~s written op~n~on on the legality of such
ordinance, resolution or contract prior to submission to the
Council (Charter, Section 6 02)
7 3 D~str~but~on of Ordinances and Resolutions The City
Manager shall prepare cop~es of all proposed ordinances and
resolutions for d~str~butlon to all members of the Council at
the meeting at which the ordinance or resolution ~s introduced,
or at such earlier t~me as is expedient
7 4 Recording of Votes The ayes and noes shall be taken
upon the passage of all ordinances and resolutions and the vote
of each member shall be recorded ~n the m~nutes (Charter,
Section 2 06(b))
7 $ Majority Vote Required An affirmative vote of four
(4) members is necessary to repeal any ordinance or take any
official action ~n the name of the C~ty except as otherwise
prowded ~n the Charter or by the laws of the State of Texas
7 6 Demand for Roll Call Upon demand of any member, the
roll shall be called for yeas and noes upon any question before
RULES ~ REGULATIONS PAGE 9
the Council It shall not be ~n order for members to explain
their vote during the roll call
7 7 Personal Privilege The right of a member to address
the Council on a question of personal pr~wlege shall be
l~m~ted to cases ~n which his ~ntegr~ty, character, or motives
are assailed, questioned, or ~mpugned
7 $ D~ssents and Protests Any member shall have the
right to express dissent from or protest against any ordinance
or resolution of the Council and have the reason therefor
entered upon the m~nutes Such d~ssent or protest may be f~led
~n writing, and presented to the Council not later than the
next regular meeting following the date of passage of the
ordinance or resolution objected to
7 9 Voting Reqmred No member shall be excused from
voting except for lack of ~nformat~on and except on matters
~nvolv~ng the consideration of h~s own official conduct, or
where h~s personal ~nterests are ~nvolved, and ~n these
~nstances he shall abstain Any member prohibited from voting
by personal ~nterest shall announce at the commencement of
consideration of the matter and shall not enter ~nto d~scuss~on
or debate on any such matter The member hawng briefly stated
the reason for h~s request, the excuse from voting shall be
made w~thout debate
7 10 Order of Precedence of Motions (a) The following
motions shall have priority ~n the order ~nd~cated
1 Adjourn (when unqualified) and ~s not
debatable and may not be amended,
2 Take a recess (when pr~wleged),
5 Raise a question of pr~wlege,
4 Lay on the table,
S Prewous question (2/5 vote reqmred),
L~mlt or extend l~m~ts of debate [2/5
vote reqmred),
RULES § REGULATIONS PAGE 10
7 Postpone to a certain t~me,
8 Commit or refer,
9 Amend,
10 Postpone ~ndefxn~tely,
11 Ma~n motion
(b) The f~rst two motions are not always pr~wleged To
adjourn shall lose ~ts pr~wlege character and be a ma~n motion
~f ~n any way qualified To take a recess shall be pr~wleged
only when other bus~ness is pending
(c) A motion to adjourn ~s not ~n order
1 When repeated w~thout ~nterven~ng
huslness or discussion,
2When made as an ~nterruptxon of a
member wh~le speaking,
3 Wh~le a vote ~s being taken
(d)Can be amended - others cannot be amended
(e) A motion to amend shall be undebatable when the
question to be amended ~s undebatable
7 11 Reconsideration A motion to reconsider any action of
the Council can be made not later than the next succeeding
official meeting of the Council Such a motion can only be
made by a member who voted w~th the ma3or~ty It can be
seconded by any member No question shall be twice
reconsidered, except by unanimous consent of the Council,
except that action relating to any contract may be recons~derd
at any t~me before the f~nal execution thereof
7 12 The Prewous Question_ When the prewous question ~s
moved and seconded, ~t shall be put as follows "Shall the
ma~n question be now put~" There shall then be no further
amendment or debate, but pending amendments shall be put ~n
their order before the ma~n question If the motion for the
previous question xs lost, the ma~n question remains before the
Council An affirmative vote of three/f~fths of the Council
RULES ~ REGULATIONS PAGE
shall be required to move the prewous question To demand the
prewous question ~s equivalent ~n effect to mowng "that
debate now cease, and the Council ~mmedlately proceed to vote
on the pending motion" In practice, th~s ~s done w~th the
phrase "Call for the Question", or s~mply saying "Question"
7 15 W~thdrawal of Motions A motion may be withdrawn, or
modified, by ~ts mover w~thout asking permission until the
motion has been stated by the Chairman If the mover modifies
h~s motion, the seconder may w~thdraw h~s second After the
question has been stated, the mover shall neither w~thdraw ~t
nor modify ~t without the consent of the Council
7 14 Amendments to Motions No motion or proposition of
the subject d~fferent from that under consideration shall be
admitted under color of amendment A motion to amend an
amendment shall be ~n order, but one to amend an amendment to
an amendment shall not be ~n order
7 1S Appropriations of Money Before formal approval by
the Council of motions prowd~ng for appropriation of money,
~nformat~on must be presented to the Council showing the
purpose of the appropriation In addition, before f~nally
acting on such an appropriation, the Council shall obtain a
report from the C~ty Manager as to the availability of funds
and h~s recommendations as to the desirability of the
appropriation
7 16 Transfer of Appropriations At the request of the
C~ty Manager, and w~th~n the last three (5) months of the
budget year, the Council may by resolution transfer an
unencumbered balance of an appropriation made for the use of
one department, d~wslon, or purpose, but no transfer shall be
made of revenues of earnings of any nontax supported public
utility to any other purpose
RULES ~ RMGULATIONS PAG~ 32
8 CREATION OF COMMITTEES~ BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
8 1 Council Committees The Council may, as the need
arises, authorize the appointment of "ad hoc" Council
committees Any committee so created shall cease to ex~st upon
the accomplishment of the special purpose for which it was
created or when abolished by a ma3orlty vote of the Council
8 2 Citizen Boards~ Commlss~ons~ and Committees The
Council may create other Committees, Boards, and Commissions to
assist ~n the conduct of the operation of the City government
with such duties as the Council may specify not ~ncons~stent
with the C~ty Charter or Code Memberships and selection of
members shall be as provided by the Council ~f not specified by
the City Charter or Code Any Committees, Boards, or
Commissions so created shall cease to ex~st upon the
accomplishment of the special purpose for which it was created,
or when abolished by a ma3orlty of the vote of the Council No
Committee so appointed shall have powers other than advisory to
the Council or to the City Manager, except as otherwise
specified by the Charter or Code
9 VOTES REQUIRED
Questions on which the voting requirement is varied by the
Charter, State Statutes and these rules are listed below
9 1 Charter and State Statutory Requirements
(a) Charter Amendment - Five Votes
Ordinances submitting proposed Charter amendments must
be adopted by a two-th~rds vote of the Council (Article XI,
Section 5, Texas Constitution and Article 1165, Revised Civil
Statutes) For a seven member Council, this means five members
must vote affirmatively
(b) Levying Taxes - Five Votes
Ordinances prowd~ng for the assessment and collection
of taxes require the approval of two-thirds of the members of
the Council (Article 1055, Revised Civil Statutes )
RULES ~ REGULATIONS PAGE 15
(c) Changing Paving Assessment Plans - Five Votes
Changes ~n plans for paving assessment reqmre a
two-th~rds vote of the Council (Article l105b, Section 10,
Revised Civil Statutes )
(d) Changes in Zoning Ordinance or Zoning Classifications
In cases of a written protest of a change in a zoning
regulation or zoning classification by the owners of twenty
(20%) percent or more either of the area of the lots ~ncluded
in such proposed change, or of the lots immediately adjoining
the same and extending two hundred feet (200') therefrom, such
amendment shall not become effective except by the favorable
vote of three-fourths (3/4) of all members of the City Council
slx (6) votes of the City Conc~l ~s required to overr~de the
decision of the Planning and Zoning Commission that a zoning
change be denied
10 RULES SUSPENSION OR AMENDMENT
10 1 Suspension of Rules Any provision of these rules not
governed by the C~ty Charter or Code may be temporarily
suspended by a majority vote of the Council The vote on any
such suspension shall be taken by yeas and noes and entered
upon the record
10 2 Amendment of Rules These rules may be amended, or
new rules adopted by the affirmative vote of four (4) members
of the Council, provided that the proposed amendments or new
rules shall have been Introduced ~nto the record at a prior
Council meeting
11 SEVERABILITY CLAUSE
That ~f any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence,
clause, phrase or word ~n th~s ordinance, or application
thereof to any person or c~rcumstances ~s held ~nval~d by any
court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect
the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance, and
RULES ~ REGULATIONS PAGE 14
the City Council of the C~ty of Denton, Texas, hereby declares
it would have enacted such remaining portions despite any such
~nvahdlty
PASSED
1981
]FICI~ARD-O '~TEWART,~ MAYOR -~7~'
CIT~ OF DEN~rON, TEXAS
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM
C J TAYLOR, JR , CITY ATTORNEY
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
RULES ~ REGULATIONS PAGE