Tennessee § 7-86-314 - Removal of member or board.

§ 7-86-314. Removal of member or board.

Effective July 1, 2017, any member of the board of directors of an emergency communications district with four (4) consecutive unexcused absences or who fails to attend at least fifty percent (50%) of regularly scheduled meetings within any twelve-month period shall automatically be removed from the board. Upon removal of a member pursuant to subdivision (a)(1), the chair of the board of directors or acting chair shall notify the appointing authority in writing that a member has been removed and that a vacancy exists on the board. A successor shall be appointed to serve the remainder of the term of the member being replaced. Any member removed pursuant to subdivision (a)(1), shall be eligible for reappointment at any time by the appointing authority. If a member of a board of directors of an emergency communications district, or a board of directors of an emergency communications district, refuses to carry out either this chapter or an order of the board after May 20, 1998, such member or board may be removed by order of the chancery court in a jurisdiction in which such emergency communications district operates, upon petition by either the board, or a city or county governing body in the service area of such district. If a member of a board of directors of an emergency communications district or a board of directors of an emergency communications district knowingly or willfully neglects to perform the duties of such office, such member or board may be removed by order of the chancery court in the jurisdiction in which the emergency communications district operates, upon petition by either the board or a county or city governing body in the service area of such district. Any member removed pursuant to subdivision (b)(1) or (b)(2) shall not be eligible for reappointment at any time. Acts 1998, ch. 1108, § 18; 2016, ch. 674, § 1; 2017, ch. 217, § 1. Amendments. The 2016 amendment rewrote (a) which read, “(a) No member of the board of directors of an emergency communications district shall have more than three (3) consecutive unexcused absences from meetings. If such a member has three (3) or more consecutive unexcused absences after May 20, 1998, such member may be removed by order of the chancery court in a jurisdiction in which such emergency communications district operates, upon petition by either the board, or a county or city governing body in the service area of such district.” The 2017 amendment, in (a), designated the former first sentence as present (1) and designated the former second and third sentences as present (2), respectively, substituted “July 1, 2017” for “July 1, 2016” in (1), and, in (2), added “Upon removal of a member pursuant to this subdivision (a)(1),” at the beginning of the first sentence, deleted “Upon the removal of a member pursuant to this subsection (a),” at the beginning of the second sentence, and added the last sentence; redesignated former (b) and (c) as present (b)(1) and (2), respectively; added (b)(3); and deleted former (d) which read: “Any such board member so removed under this section shall be ineligible for reappointment for a period of not less than forty-eight (48) months. Such provisions shall be in addition to ouster provisions contained in title 8, chapter 47.” Effective Dates. Acts 2016, ch. 674, § 2. March 29, 2016. Acts 2017, ch. 217, § 3. April 28, 2017. Attorney General Opinions. T.C.A. § 7-86-314 provides the exclusive grounds and procedures for removal of members of the board of directors of an emergency communications district, OAG 09-013 (2/6/09). The automatic removal provisions of T.C.A. § 7-86-314(a) apply, by their plain language, to ex officio emergency communications district (ECD) board members. This does not create any conflict with the requirement of T.C.A. § 7-86-105(b)(3) that certain officials serve ex officio as ECD board members. The statute allows those ex officio membership positions to be filled either by the specified official or by a representative of that official. Thus, when an ex officio membership position is vacant because the specified official was automatically removed from the board, the statutory ex officio membership requirement is nevertheless fully satisfied when that position is filled by a representative of the official. OAG 16-39, 2016 Tenn. AG LEXIS 39 (10/11/2016).