SPONSOR: Costlow
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass with HCS" by the Standing Committee on Local Government by a vote of 12 to 1.
The following is a summary of the House Committee Substitute for HBs 1728, 2161 & 1830.
Currently, the makeup of city-county library boards consists of nine members, with the mayor appointing four of those members if the population of the county is greater than the population of the city, and the county governing body appointing the other five members.
This bill would modify the board makeup for the city-county library board for St. Charles. For appointments after January 1, 2027, the mayors of the four most populous cities within the county will each appoint one member to the board of trustees.
This bill is similar to HB 1405 (2025).
The following is a summary of the public testimony from the committee hearing. The testimony was based on the introduced version of the bill.
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that this change in statute, which would only affect St. Charles County, would reflect the functional practice in the county, where the mayor of the largest city relies on advice from the other three mayors to appoint the board. This would be a more equitable practice and allow the board to be more broadly representative of the county as a whole.
Testifying in person for the bill were Representative Costlow; and St. Charles County.
OPPONENTS: There was no opposition voiced to the committee.
Written testimony has been submitted for this bill. The full written testimony and witnesses testifying online can be found under Testimony on the bill page on the House website.
Statutes affected: