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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. 5897 May 12, 1981 COUNTIES: Board of public works--vote required to appoint members to board Board of commissioners--majority vote to appoint member to county board of public works A county board of commissioners may, by simple majority vote of the elected and serving members of the board, appoint members of the county board of public works. The Honorable Robert VanderLaan State Senator The Capitol Lansing, Michigan You have requested my opinion on the question whether appointments to the Kent County Board of Public Works created under 1957 PA 185; MCLA 123.731 et seq; MSA 5.570(1) et seq, must be made by the action of two-thirds of the elected members of the county board of commissioners. 1957 PA 185, supra, Sec. 2, as amended, states: '(1) The county board of commissioners, by resolution adopted by a 2/3 vote of its elected members, may establish a department of public works for the administration of the powers conferred upon the county by this act. The department of public works shall be under the general control of the county board of commissioners and under the immediate control of a board of public works consisting, except as provided in subsection (3), of 7 or 9 members who shall be appointed or removed in the manner prescribed in this section. '(2) The initial terms of the appointed members shall be staggered for terms of not more than 3 years as prescribed by the county board of commissioners. Membership on the board of public works shall include the following: '(a) The county drain commissioner of the county in which the department of public works is established. '(b) Six or 8 other members appointed by the county board of commissioners, with the exception of a person named in subdivision (a).' MCLA 123.732; MSA 5.570(2). The language quoted above clearly requires that a two-thirds vote of its elected members is necessary if the county board of commissioners chooses to create a department of public works. After creation of a department of public works, the board of county commissioners must appoint six or eight members to the board of public works to serve thereon with the county drain commissioner. The statute states that the seven or nine members who shall be appointed shall be appointed in the manner provided in this section unless the county board of commissioners chooses to structure the board of public works under the alternate provision set forth in Sec. 2(3). 1957 PA 185, supra, is silent as to the specific vote required for the appointment of the six or eight members to the board of public works. In 1851 PA 156, Sec. 3, as last amended by 1978 PA 51 and 326; MCLA 46.3; MSA 5.323, the Legislature has provided, in pertinent part, as follows: 'A majority of the members of the county board of commissioners of a county shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of the ordinary business of the county, and questions which arise at its meetings shall be determined by the votes of a majority of the members present, except upon the final passage or adoption of a measure or resolution, or the allowance of a claim against the county, in which case a majority of the members elected and serving shall be necessary. . . .' The Legislature has, on occasion, required that certain actions taken by a board of county commissioners be approved by two-thirds vote of the members elected to the board. The establishment of a board of public works must be approved by vote of two-thirds of the members elected to the board. 1957 PA 185, Sec. 2, supra. The Legislature has also provided in 1851 PA 156, Sec. 12, as last amended by 1978 PA 278; MCLA 46.12; MSA 5.333, that the powers conferred upon a board of county commissioners pursuant to 1851 PA 156, Sec. 11(c), (e), (f), (k), (l), (m), (o), and (p), shall not be exercised without a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to the board. It must follow that when the Legislature wants authority vested in a board of county commissioners to be exercised by two-thirds vote of the members elected to the board, the Legislature makes specific provision therefor. A plain reading of 1957 PA 185, Sec. 2, supra, indicates that the Legislature did not specifically require appointment of members to the board of public works to be made only by two-thirds vote of the members elected to the board of county commissioners. It is, therefore, my opinion that appointments to the county board of public works do not require a resolution adopted by a two-thirds vote of members elected to the board of county commissioners, but a majority vote of the members elected to and serving on the board of county commissioners will suffice. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General
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