The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL Opinion No. 5439 February 7, 1979 TOWNSHIPS: Establishment of hours of employment of township employees at the annual township meeting OFFICES AND EMPLOYEES: Establishment of hours of employment of township employees at the annual township meeting Inasmuch as this authority has been vested in the township board or other township authorities by the Legislature, the inhabitants of a non-chartered township may not establish hours of employment for township employees at the annual township meeting. Mr. Edward J. Grant Prosecuting Attorney Jackson County Court House Room 300 Jackson, Michigan 49201 You have requested my opinion upon the following question: May the inhabitants of a non-charter township establish hours of employment of township employees at the annual township meeting? (1) Const 1963, art 7, Sec. 17 provides that '[e]ach organized township shall be a body corporate with powers and immunities provided by law.' In several acts, the Legislature has expressly or impliedly delegated the authority to provide for hours of employment of township employees to certain township agencies. For example, in townships having 60,000 or more inhabitants and which have adopted the provisions of 1965 PA 246, as amended; MCLA 38.451 et seq; MSA 5.193(1) et seq, an act to establish and provide a civil service system in certain townships, the authority to set hours of employment is expressly vested in the township civil service commission. 1965 PA 246, Sec. 5; MCLA 38.455; MSA 5.193(5), provides in part: '. . . The civil service commission shall provide by regulation for the hours and conditions of service. . . .' Also, section 6 of 1951 PA 33, as amended, an act providing for township fire protection, MCLA 41.806; MSA 5.2640(6), provides: 'The township board of any township or townships acting jointly . . . shall have the power to establish and maintain a fire department; to organize and maintain fire companies; to employ and appoint a chief and such firemen and officers as shall be required for the proper and efficient operation and maintenance of the department; to make and establish rules and regulations for the government of the department, employees, firemen and officers thereof . . . and for the prescribing of the powers and duties of such employees, officers and firemen . . . Any or all of the foregoing powers, at the discretion of the township board, may be delegated to a police or fire administrative board duly created and established according to law.' (Emphasis supplied) In addition, the public employee relations act (PERA), 1947 PA 336, as amended; MCLA 423.201 et seq; MSA 17.455(1) et seq, requires public employers, where public employees have selected collective bargaining agents, to bargain collectively regarding terms and conditions of employment. The negotiation and day-to-day administration of collective bargaining agreements and personnel functions would require the attention of a continuing governing body of the public employer. OAG, 1961-1962, No 3619, p 249 (February 5, 1962) discussed at length the delegation of the Legislature's powers to townships, and the respective authority and powers of township inhabitants and township boards and also included a discussion of the respective authority to hire and fire township employees. The discussion, in pertinent part, states at pages 249-255: 'A township is an instrumentality of the state for the purposes of local government. Individual townships possess no inherent power over the structure of their own government; they may exercise only such powers as are delegated to them by the legislature, subject to the limitations provided by the state constitution. It is thus necessary to examine the pertinent portions of the state constitution and acts enacted by the state legislature in furtherance of the power conferred by the constitution upon the legislature to delegate powers of local, legislative and administrative character to townships. 'Thus, it would appear that early in the development of township government the legislature delegated broad legislative powers which could be exercised by the inhabitants of the townships at the annual township meetings. However, in relatively recent years there has been an erosion of the authority of the annual township meeting as a legislative chamber, with the transfer of many legislative powers to the township board. . . .' 'Your second question relates to whether a majority at the annual township board to fire certain township employees. As in the case of purchasing and selling real estate, the authority of the inhabitants of the township to hire and fire employees has been steadily eroded, if such authority was ever delegated to the electors at the annual township meetings. Section 2 of chapter 16, R.S. 1846, supra, provided that the inhabitants of each organized township may appoint all necessary agents and attorneys. I am of the opinion that this language must be read and interpreted in conjunction with the language which immediately precedes it: 'The inhabitants of each organized township shall be a body corporate, and as such may sue and be sued, and may appoint all necessary agents and attorneys in that behalf; ' (Emphasis supplied). Because of the punctuation and the emphasized language, I am of the opinion that electors at annual township meetings may appoint and discharge agents and attorneys only with respect to legal suits by or against the township. 'Further, evidence of the limited authority of township meetings with respect to employees is manifest when the acts authorizing boards and commissions to hire employees are examined. Act 50, P.A. 1919, being M.S.A. 1961 Rev. Vol. Sec. 5.191 et seq., C.L. 1948 Sec. 41.201 et seq., provides that the township board may by a majority vote thereof provide for the employment of a traffic officer or officers in the township. The compensation and service of such officers shall be determined by the township board. Also, under Act 203, P.A. 1957, being M.S.A. 1961 Rev. Vol. Sec. 5.266(1), the township board may by majority vote authorize the purchase of public street cleaning vehicles, snow removal equipment and provide for the maintenance and operation thereof payable from the general fund of the township. In providing for the maintenance and operation of the equipment specified, the township board of necessity world have to hire employees to do the work. 'Another example is offered by Act 181, P.A. 1951; section 5 thereof, being M.S.A. 1958 Rev. Vol. Sec. 5.2640(35), C.L.S. 1956 Sec. 41.855, provides that the township board of any township or townships acting jointly, where appropriations have been made as required, shall have the power to establish and maintain a police department, to employ and appoint a chief of police and such police officers and detectives as shall be required for the proper and efficient operation and maintenance of the police department. Also, under this act the township board has the power to prescribe the powers and duties of such employees, officers and detectives. If the township has established a civil service commission for the fire and police departments under Act 78, P.A. 1935, as amended, being M.S.A 1958 Rev. Vol. Sec. 5.3351 et seq., C.L. 1948 Sec. 38.501 et seq., then the firemen and policemen must be discharged in accordance with that act. 'The above examples all concern specific authorization by the state legislature empowering the township board to hire the employees for various specified purposes. In addition to the township board, other township bodies have been authorized to hire employees. An example of this is the township park commission, which, under section 3 of Act 271, P.A. 1931, as amended, being M.S.A. 1961 Rev. Vol. Sec. 5.273, C.L. 1948 Sec. 41.433, is authorized to employ such clerical assistance and incur such other expenses as shall be necessary to carry out the provisions of the act. 'Another body which has the authority to hire its own employees is the board of directors of the community center, under section 4 of Act 199, P.A. 1929, being M.S.A. 1958 Rev. Vol. Sec. 5.2384, C.L. 1948 Sec. 123.44. Said sections state that the board of directors shall have authority to employ a suitable community director and necessary assistants, fix their compensation, and discharge such employees. 'The foregoing are no means all the instances in which the hiring of employees is delegated to various township boards. However, it does indicate a clear pattern of placing the responsibility for hiring and firing of township employees in bodies other than the annual township meeting. . . .' The foregoing legislation, and the legislation discussed in OAG, 1961-1962, No. 3619, supra, indicates the Legislature's intention to vest such matters in the township board, or other boards or commissions, and it is, therefore, my opinion that the inhabitants of a non-charter township are not vested with authority to establish hours of employment for township employees; such authority has been delegated by the Legislature to the township board or to other boards and commissions. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General (1)
Also, the response is not applicable to fixing the salaries of township officers (as distinguished from township employees), which are fixed by the electors at annual meetings pursuant to RS 1846, ch 16, Sec. 95; MCLA 41.95; MSA 5.82.