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Committee flags outdated town-clerk bond language, to review 317-page General Code analysis
Summary
Members called the town-clerk bond provision "old and outdated" and agreed to distribute a March 2022 General Code editorial and legal analysis (317 pages) for review before the next meeting.
North Smithfield — During its Aug. 27 session, the Charter Review Committee flagged charter language that requires the town clerk and deputy town clerk to post bonds "within 15 days of time being sworn into office," calling the provision outdated and in need of solicitor review.
"This just seems really old and outdated," a committee member said while discussing the bond requirement and related wording in section 4 of the town-clerk article. Members asked staff to consult the town solicitor on whether the bonding language remains necessary given current insurance and fiduciary practices.
The committee also agreed to circulate an editorial and legal analysis prepared by General Code in March 2022 — a 317-page document that reviews the town's legislation chapter by chapter and identifies conflicts, ambiguities and suggested edits. The committee will read that analysis and report back at the next meeting on whether recommendations in the General Code document should be advanced as part of the charter-review work.
No charter edits were adopted at the meeting; staff will follow up with the solicitor and share the General Code report for committee review.
