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AN ORDINANCE PRESCRIBING THE DUTIES, QUALIFICATIONS AND SETTING THE SALARY OF THE CITY CLERK AND EX-OFFICIO MUNICIPAL COURT CLERK OF THE CITY OF JONESBORO, ARKANSAS
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WHEREAS, the necessary duties of the City Clerk and Ex-Officio Municipal Court Clerk of the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas, require the regular keeping of certain journals, bookkeeping records, ledger and book, the typewritten recording of the minutes of the City Council and the typewritten recordings of the laws, ordinances, and many other permanent records of said city and of the judgments and records of said court, it is absolutely necessary, in order to capably perform such duties, that said clerk posses certain basic qualifications; and
WHEREAS, the office of the city clerk and ex-officio Municipal Court Clerk has become increasingly important in the service to the public and to the attorneys and their litigants in the preparation and filing of cases with said court and in the caring on of the city’s business; it has become necessary that said office be maintained and be open to the public for the transaction of business at certain regular hours; and that the duties of said clerk be more clearly defined.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas:
SECTION 1: From and after the beginning of the next regular term of the City Clerk and Ex-Officio Municipal Court of the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas, beginning on January 1, 1957, the following minimum qualifications for the office of City Clerk and Ex-Officio Municipal Court Clerk shall be in full force and effect:
(A) Said clerk shall be 21 years of age or older;
(B) Shall be a qualified elector of the City of Jonesboro;
(C) Shall be, and at all times remain, a resident of said City of Jonesboro; and have a high school education;
(D) Said Clerk shall be proficient in the use of a typewriter, and shall be able to type at least 45 words per minute;
(E) Said Clerk shall have and understand the basic principals of bookkeeping, and must have and present evidence of at least one year of High School, business school or college bookkeeping, or its equivalent in actual experience and practice.
A lack of any one or more of the above minimum qualifications and requirements shall be and constitute cause for removal from office.
SECTION 2: The salary of the City Clerk and Ex-Officio Municipal Court Clerk of the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas, beginning with the next regular term on January 1, 1957, is hereby fixed and established as follows:
(A) The salary of said clerk showing evidence of and possessing all of the requirements and qualifications set forth in Section 1 hereinabove shall be and is hereby fixed at the sum of Three Hundred and No/100 Dollars ($300.00) per month payable in monthly installments; $100.00 of said salary being designated as salary for the being designated as salary for the office of city clerk $200.00 of said salary being designated for the duties of the Ex Officio Municipal Court Clerk.
(B) The salary of any said clerk lacking in any one, and not being able to show evidence of possessing all of the qualifications hereinabove set out in Section 1, shall be and is hereby fixed at the sum of $100.00 per month; $50.00 of said salary being designated for the office of the city clerk and $50.00 of said salary being designated for the office of Ex-Officio Municipal Court Clerk.
SECTION 3: EXAMINATION. The City Council, or a duly appointed committee of said Council shall as soon after the commencing of each new term of office of said clerk, and in all events not later than the first pay period, conduct an examination of said clerk as to his knowledge of typing, bookkeeping, and general clerical knowledge. A duly certified diploma and transcript of any accredited high school or college showing thereon that said clerk has satisfactorily completed at least one year of bookkeeping, shall be sufficient to comply with Section 1 (e) hereinabove set out. The examining committee shall require sufficient evidence by affidavit or otherwise setting forth the practical experience in bookkeeping. The examining committee shall require sufficient evidence by a duly acceptable testing method of said clerk’s typing ability as set out in Section 1 (d) hereinabove. All of such tests, records, and evidence before said examining committee together with their certificate of findings shall be filed and recorded in the minutes of said next regular council meeting, and shall be open to public inspection, and such evidence, if it discloses a lack of qualifications as set forth in Section 1, shall be and constitute cause for removal from office.
The payment of said clerk’s salary is conditioned upon completion of the examination herein required, and if such examination discloses said clerk to be fully qualified as set forth hereinabove then his salary shall be certified and paid as set forth in Section 2 (a) herein; if said examination discloses that said clerk lacks any one of the qualifications hereinabove set forth then his salary is hereby fixed as set out in Section 2 (b) herein.
SECTION 4: DUTIES. The city clerk shall keep a regular and correct journal or minute book of the proceedings of the City Council; the city clerk shall record in typewriting and have custody of all laws, ordinances, resolutions, motions, and petitions of the said city; that the city clerk shall maintain and keep a set of books as prescribed and provided for by the auditor for said city or be order or resolution of the City Council now or hereinafter made in regard to all city’s business, and shall be required to submit monthly a detailed statement of the financial conditions of the city in so far as the current bookkeeping procedures are within the knowledge and custody of said city clerk, and that this report shall be submitted to the City Council in open session.
That the City Clerk and Ex-Officio Municipal Court Clerk shall record and have custody of all cases and causes of action filed in the municipal Court of said City; that said clerk shall keep a docket of all civil and criminal cases in a separate book each for the civil and criminal division, and shall docket each case thereon and make a note of filing of any and all pleadings, issuance of all process, and orders of said court and such other information as required by and Municipal Court; shall keep the necessary record books and record therein in some acceptable manner ordered or approved by said Court, all judgments and orders of said Municipal Court; that said clerk shall maintain and keep a set of books as prescribed and provided for by the City Auditor or by order of said Municipal Court for the said court’s business and all court costs paid into the registry of said court, and shall keep all other records and make all other reports as is required by other laws.
The City Clerk shall keep a separate ledger, books and other records as prescribed by the auditor or by order or resolution of the City Council now or hereafter put into effect in regard to all cemeteries maintained by said city, and shall make a monthly financial report to the City Council in open session of the financial conditions of said cemeteries.
The City Clerk shall draw and countersign all orders or warrants on the treasurer in pursuance of any order or resolution of the City Council, and shall make the payroll of all city employees in accordance with the salaries established by the City Council in accordance with the payroll system or procedure prescribed by the auditor, and shall keep a full and accurate account of all such warrants.
SECTION 5: OFFICE HOURS. The duties prescribed for the City Clerk and Ex-Officio Municipal Court Clerk shall be performed by said City Clerk and Ex-Officio Municipal Court Clerk, and said clerk shall have full responsibility for the performance of said duties whether performed by said clerk or by such assistants to the clerk as the Council might from time to time hereinafter employ. The City Clerk and Ex-Officio Municipal Court Clerk shall keep said office open to the public for the transaction of its business from 8:30 A.M. until 8:30 noon on Saturdays. It begins the expressed intention of this ordinance that the office of City Clerk and Ex-Officio Municipal Court Clerk shall be a full time duty, and that a neglect of this duty shall constitute cause for removal from office.
SECTION 6: All provisions of this ordinance are hereby declared severable and in the event any part, sentence, clause, or phrase shall be declared in valid or unconstitutional the remainder shall remain in full force and effect.
PASSED and ADOPTED this 4th day of September, 1956.