Oregon Advisory Opinions April 12, 1962: OAG 62-48 (April 12, 1962)
Collection: Oregon Attorney General Opinions
Docket: OAG 62-48
Date: April 12, 1962
Advisory Opinion Text
OAG 62-48.
District Attorney, Hood River County
You request an opinion as to whether the adoption of a county charter must
be placed upon the ballot by initiative petition or whether the proposed county charter may be placed upon the ballot by order of the county court.
Article VI, § 10, Oregon Constitution, providing for county home rule, reads as follows:
"The Legislative Assembly shall provide by law a method whereby the legal voters of any county, by majority vote of such voters voting thereon at any legally called election, may adopt, amend, revise or repeal a county charter. * * * The initiative and referendum powers reserved to the people by this Constitution hereby are further reserved to the legal voters of every county relative to the adoption, amendment, revision or repeal of a county charter and to legislation passed by counties which have adopted such a charter."
The legislature has complied with the mandate of Article VI, § 10, to provide by law for elections on the adoption of a county charter in ORS 203.710 et seq. Opinion of the Attorney General No. 5401, dated March 26, 1962.
ORS 203.710 to 203.790 in general provide that the legal voters of a county may adopt a charter and, for that purpose, authorize the appointment of a committee, the payment of committee expenses, the submission of a proposed charter to a public hearing, publication of the proposed charter before it is voted upon by the legal voters of the county and finally the election on the matter of adopting the county charter.
ORS 203.730 (1) provides as follows:
"(1) A county charter may be proposed by a committee appointed after the filing with the county clerk of:
"(a) A resolution requesting appointment of the committee, adopted by a majority of the county court; or
"(b) A petition requesting appointment of the committee, signed by such number of legal voters of the county as is equal to at least five percent of the whole number of votes cast within the county for that position of judge of the Supreme Court for which the greatest number of votes was cast within the county at the last preceding election for judge of the Supreme Court. The petition shall be substantially in such form as the county clerk may prescribe." (Emphasis supplied)
It is evident that under this statute a county charter may be proposed alternatively by a petition of the voters, or a resolution of the county court.
Accordingly it is our opinion that the matter of adopting a county charter may be placed on the ballot upon the initiative petition of the legal voters of the county or by order of the county court.