Reference is to the bill as introduced.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. Section 57-1-310 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 114 of 2007, is further amended to read:
"Section 57-1-310.
(A) The
congressional districts judicial
circuits of this State are constituted and created
Department of Transportation Districts of the State, designated
by numbers corresponding to the numbers of the respective
congressional districts judicial
circuits. The Commission of the Department of
Transportation shall be composed of one member from each
transportation district elected by the delegations of
the congressional district appointed by the Governor
with the advice and consent of the Senate and one member
appointed by the Governor from the State at large with the
advice and consent of the Senate. Such elections
or appointment, as the case may be,
shall take into account race and gender so as to represent, to
the greatest extent possible, all segments of the population of
the State; however . However,
consideration of these factors in making an appointment
or in an election in no way creates a cause of
action or basis for an employee grievance for a person appointed
or elected or for a person who fails to be appointed or
elected.
(B)(1)
Candidates for election to the commission must be
screened by the Joint Transportation Review Committee, as
provided in Article 7 of this chapter, and determined to meet
the qualifications contained in subsection (C) in order to be
eligible for election.
(2) The
at-large appointment made by the Governor must be transmitted to
the Joint Transportation Review Committee. The Joint
Transportation Review Committee must determine whether the
at-large appointee meets the qualifications in subsection (C)
and report its findings to the General Assembly and the
Governor. Until the Joint Transportation Review Committee finds
a gubernatorial appointee qualified, the appointee must not take
the oath of office and the full rights and privileges and powers
of the office shall not vest.
(C)
The qualifications that each commission member must
possess, include, but are not limited to:
(1)
a baccalaureate or more advanced degree from:
(a)
a recognized institution of higher learning requiring
face-to-face contact between its students and instructors prior
to completion of the academic program;
(b)
an institution of higher learning that has been accredited
by a regional or national accrediting body; or
(c)
an institution of higher learning chartered before 1962;
or
(2)
a background of at least five years in any combination of
the following fields of expertise:
(a)
transportation;
(b)
construction;
(c)
finance;
(d)
law;
(e)
environmental issues;
(f)
management; or
(g)
engineering.
(D)(C)
No member of the General Assembly or member of his
immediate family shall be elected or appointed
to the commission while the member is serving in the General
Assembly; nor shall a member of the General Assembly or a member
of his immediate family be elected or appointed to the
commission for a period of four years one
year after the member either:
(1)
ceases to be a member of the General Assembly; or
(2)
fails to file for election to the General Assembly in
accordance with Section 7-11-15."
SECTION 2. Section 57-1-320 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 114 of 2007, is further amended to read:
"Section 57-1-320.
(A)
A county that is divided among two or more
Department of Transportation districts, for purposes of electing
a commission member, is deemed to be considered in the district
which contains the largest number of residents from that county.
(B)
No county within a Department of Transportation district
shall have a resident commission member for more than one
consecutive term and in no event shall any two persons from the
same county serve as a commission member simultaneously except
as provided hereinafter."
SECTION 3. Section 57-1-330 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 114 of 2007, is further amended to read:
"Section 57-1-330.
(A) For
the purposes of electing a commission member, a legislator shall
vote only in the congressional district in which he
resides. All commission members are
elected appointed to a term of office of
four years which expires on February fifteenth of the
appropriate year. Commissioners shall continue to serve until
their successors are elected and qualify, provided that a
commissioner may only serve in a hold-over capacity for a period
not to exceed six months. Any vacancy occurring in the office
of commissioner shall be filled by election or
appointment in the manner provided in this article for the
unexpired term only. No person is eligible to serve as a
commission member who is not a resident of that district at the
time of his appointment. Failure by an elected
appointed commission member to maintain residency in the
district for which he is elected shall result in the forfeiture
of his office.
(B) The at-large commission member
shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The
at-large commission member may be appointed from any county in
the State unless another commission member is serving from that
county. Failure by the at-large commission member to maintain
residence in the State shall result in a forfeiture of his
office.
(C) All elected commission
members may be removed from office as provided in Section
1-3-240(C)(1)."
SECTION 4. Section 57-1-740 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 253 of 2010, is further amended to read:
"Section 57-1-740.
(A) For purposes of this
section, a A vacancy is created on the
commission when a term expires, a new congressional
district judicial circuit is created, or a
commission member resigns, dies, or is removed from office as
provided in Section 57-1-330(C). If known in advance,
the review committee may provide notice of a vacancy and begin
screening prior to the actual date of the vacancy.
(B) Whenever a commission
member must be elected to fill a vacancy:
(1)
The review committee must forward a notice of the transportation
commission district member vacancy to:
(a) a
newspaper of general circulation within the congressional
district from which a commission member must be elected with a
request that it be published at least once a week for four
consecutive weeks;
(b)
any person who has informed the committee that he desires to be
notified of the vacancy; and
(c)
to each member of the congressional district delegation.
The committee may provide
such additional notice that it deems appropriate.
(2)
The review committee may not accept a notice of intention to
seek the office from any candidate until the review committee
certifies to the clerk of the Senate and the clerk of the House
of Representatives that the proper notices, required by this
section, have been requested to be published or provided as
required in this subsection.
(3)
The cost of the notification process required by this section
must be absorbed and paid from the approved accounts of the
Senate and the House of Representatives as contained in the
annual appropriations act.
(C) Any person desiring to
be a candidate for election to fill a vacancy on the commission
must file a notice of intention with the review committee no
later than five business days after the last date the published
notice appeared in a newspaper of general circulation. Upon the
expiration of the notice of intention filing period, the review
committee must provide every member of the affected
congressional district delegation with a complete list of the
people who filed a notice.
(D)(1) When the notice of
intention filing period closes, the review committee shall begin
to conduct an investigation of candidates, as it considers
appropriate, and may utilize the services of any agency of state
government to assist in the investigation. Upon request of the
review committee for assistance, an agency shall cooperate
fully.
(2)(a)(i) Upon completion of the candidate
investigations, the chairman of the review committee shall
schedule a public hearing concerning the qualifications of the
candidates. Any person who desires to testify at the hearing,
including the candidates, must furnish a written statement of
his proposed testimony to the chairman of the review committee.
This statement shall be furnished no later than forty-eight
hours prior to the date and time set for the hearing. The
review committee shall determine the persons who shall testify
at the hearing. All testimony, including documents furnished to
the review committee, shall be submitted under oath and persons
knowingly furnishing false information either orally or in
writing shall be subject to the penalties provided by law for
perjury and false swearing.
(ii)
During the course of the investigation, the review committee may
schedule an executive session at which the candidates, and other
persons who the review committee wishes to interview, may be
interviewed on matters pertinent to the candidate's
qualification for the office to be filled.
(iii)
The review committee shall render its tentative findings as to
whether the candidates are qualified to serve on the commission
as a district member and its reasons for making the findings
within a reasonable time after the hearing. If only one person
applies to fill a vacancy or if the review committee concludes
there are fewer candidates qualified for a vacancy than those
who initially filed, it shall submit to the congressional
district delegation for election only the names and
qualifications of those who are considered to be qualified. The
nominations of the review committee for any candidate for the
election to the commission are binding on the congressional
district delegation, and it shall not elect a person not
nominated by the review committee. Nothing shall prevent the
congressional district delegation from rejecting all persons
nominated. In this event, the review committee shall submit
another group of names and qualifications for that position.
Further nominations in the manner required by this chapter must
be made until the office is filled.
(b)
As soon as possible after the completion of the hearing, a
verbatim copy of the testimony, documents submitted at the
hearing, and findings of fact shall be transcribed and published
in the journals of both houses or otherwise made available in a
reasonable number of copies to the members of both houses and a
copy must be furnished to each candidate.
(c)(i) The review committee must transmit to the
congressional district delegation the names of all qualified
candidates.
(ii)
No member of the congressional district delegation may pledge
his vote to elect a candidate until the review committee has
released its written report concerning the qualifications of the
candidate to the members of the appropriate congressional
district delegation. The release of the written report of
qualifications shall occur no earlier than forty-eight hours
after the names of the qualified candidates have been initially
released to members of the appropriate congressional district
delegation.
(iii)
No candidate may directly or indirectly seek the pledge of a
vote from a member of the candidate's congressional delegation
or, directly or indirectly, contact a statewide constitutional
officer, a member of the General Assembly, or the Joint
Transportation Review Committee regarding screening for the
commission until the review committee has released its written
report as to the qualifications of all candidates in a
particular congressional district. For purposes of this
section, "indirectly seek the pledge" means the
candidate, or someone acting on behalf of and at the request of
the candidate, requests another person to contact a member of
the General Assembly, a statewide constitutional officer, or a
member of the review committee on behalf of the candidate before
the review committee's release of the written report of
qualifications.
(iv)
The prohibitions of this section do not extend to an
announcement of candidacy by the candidate and statements by the
candidate detailing the candidate's qualifications.
(d) A
candidate may withdraw at any stage of the proceedings, and in
this event no further inquiry, report on, or consideration of
his candidacy shall be made.
(3)
All records, information, and other material that the review
committee has obtained or used to make its findings of fact,
except materials, records, and information presented under oath
at the public hearing, shall be kept strictly confidential.
After the review committee has reported its findings of fact, or
after a candidate withdraws his name from consideration, all
records, information, and material required to be kept
confidential must be destroyed.
(4)(a) The review committee may, in the discharge
of its duties, administer oaths and affirmations, take
depositions, and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of
witnesses and the production of books, papers, correspondence,
memoranda, and other records considered necessary in connection
with the investigation of the review committee.
(b)
No person shall be excused from attending and testifying or from
producing books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, or other
records before the review committee on the ground that the
testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, required of him
may tend to incriminate him or subject him to a penalty or
forfeiture. However, no individual shall be prosecuted or
subjected to any criminal penalty based upon testimony or
evidence submitted or forfeiture for or on account of any
transaction, matter, or thing concerning which he is compelled,
after having claimed his privilege against self-incrimination,
to testify or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise, except
that the individual so testifying shall not be exempt from
prosecution and punishment for perjury and false swearing
committed during testimony.
(c)
In case of contumacy by any person or refusal to obey a subpoena
issued to any person, any circuit court of this State or circuit
judge thereof within the jurisdiction of which the person guilty
of contumacy or refusal to obey is found, resides, or transacts
business, upon application by the review committee, may issue to
the person an order requiring him to appear before the review
committee to produce evidence, if so ordered, or to give
testimony concerning the matter under investigation. Any
failure to obey an order of the court may be punished as
contempt. Subpoenas shall be issued in the name of the review
committee and shall be signed by the review committee chairman.
Subpoenas shall be issued to those persons as the review
committee may designate.
(5)
The privilege of the floor in either house of the General
Assembly may not be granted to a candidate, or any immediate
family member of a candidate unless the family member is serving
in the General Assembly, during the time the candidate's
application is pending before the review committee and during
the time the candidate's election is pending."
SECTION 5. Sections 57-1-325, 57-1-730, and 57-1-750 of the 1976 Code are repealed.
SECTION 6. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.