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Madison County amends public‑comment rules, requires preregistration and limits remarks to three minutes
Summary
By ordinance, Madison County now requires speakers to pre‑register by 4:30 p.m. the day before a board meeting, limits each speaker to three minutes and sets speaker order by County Clerk time stamp; the measure passed unanimously Feb. 20.
The Madison County Board on Feb. 20 adopted Ordinance No. 2019‑01 amending Chapter 30 of the county code to change public‑comment procedures. Under the amendment, anyone wishing to address the board must file a completed "Request To Address The Madison County Board" form with the County Clerk's Office no later than 4:30 p.m. the day before the meeting, provide their name and a brief description of the topic, and will be allotted three minutes to speak.
The ordinance also directs the County Clerk to determine the order of speakers on a first‑come, first‑served basis using the department's date/time stamps, and gives the County Board chair the prerogative to enforce decorum, including issuing warnings and ordering removal for speech deemed disruptive or offensive.
Government Relations Committee sponsor Chris Guy presented the ordinance to the full board; a voice vote recorded unanimous approval and the ordinance took effect immediately upon passage.
Why it matters: the change was prompted by concerns about aligning local practice with the Illinois Open Meetings Act's agenda‑posting requirements and by board interest in balancing open First Amendment speech with orderly proceedings. The new deadline moves pre‑registration to after agendas are posted and formalizes a time‑limited, pre‑registered public‑comment process.
What the record shows: the ordinance text explicitly requires name and a short topic description for processing; penalties for disruptive speech are limited to warnings and removal at the chair's discretion. The minutes do not record any dissenting votes or amendments to the proposal.
