Summary — Tennessee SB 2712 (Obion County)
Jurisdiction: Tennessee (Obion County) | Session: 114
Title: Obion County - Subject to local approval, clarifies that the county highway superintendent of the county highway department be appointed by the county commission pursuant to state law. - Amends the private acts of Obion County.
Status and Scope
- This act amends the private acts governing Obion County to establish and regulate the county highway department and its leadership.
- Key change: creates the office of County Road Superintendent as the chief administrative officer of the county highway department.
- The act sets out appointment, duties, authority, and governance for the County Road Superintendent, aligning with state law (Tennessee County Uniform Highway Law).
Main Purpose
- To create a formal, county-level office—the County Road Superintendent—to manage the Obion County highway department’s road, bridge, and related infrastructure activities.
- To set forth appointment timing, term length, duties, purchasing authority, budgeting, and oversight mechanisms for the highway department.
Key Provisions
1) Creation and Role
- Establishes the Office of County Road Superintendent as the chief administrative officer of Obion County’s highway department.
- The department is responsible for building, maintaining, reconstructing, and repairing county roads, highways, and bridges, in line with the Tennessee County Uniform Highway Law (T.C.A. Title 54, Chapter 7).
2) Appointment and Term
- Current County Road Superintendent remains in position until the end of the ongoing term.
- After the current term ends, the County Road Superintendent will be selected by a majority vote of the entire Obion County Legislative Body.
- Term length set at four (4) years, with initial term beginning July 1, 2027, and continuing every four years thereafter.
3) Qualifications and Compliance
- The Superintendent’s qualifications, term, duties, powers, authority, and minimum compensation follow the Tennessee County Uniform Highway Law (as amended in the future).
- Superintendent remains subject to the same limitations, conditions, prohibitions, and punishments as provided by the law.
4) Purchasing and Budgeting
- The County Road Superintendent is the purchasing agent for the highway department.
- Responsible for proposing a department budget and maintaining department inventory.
- Purchases and budgeting must comply with state law (Tennessee County Uniform Highway Law) and any applicable local acts or resolutions.
- If Obion County later adopts centralized purchasing under a local option law or private act, those provisions would supersede this act’s purchasing rules.
5) Expenditure Authority
- The Superintendent may authorize expenditures from the highway fund and issue warrants drawn against the road fund.
- A second signature from the County Mayor is required for expenditures.
- All spending must conform to the approved budget by the Obion County Legislative Body.
6) Advisory Committee (Optional)
- The Legislative Body may establish an advisory committee to provide recommendations on county needs, per its bylaws.
7) Enabling/Severability and Local Approval
- The act repeals conflicting laws or parts.
- If any provision is invalid, the remainder remains in effect (severability).
- The act takes effect only if approved by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Obion County Legislative Body, with the presiding officer proclaiming and certifying the approval to the Secretary of State.
8) Effective Date
- For the purposes of approval, the act is effective upon approval by the county body; otherwise, it follows the general effective date tied to local approval.
Potential Impact and Stakeholders
- Obion County Legislative Body: Directly responsible for appointment after the current term and ongoing oversight of spending and budget.
- County Road Superintendent: Receives formal statutory authority as the purchasing agent and chief administrator of the highway department; subject to state law and local budget controls.
- Obion County taxpayers: Impacts budgeting, procurement, and management of road and bridge infrastructure; potential changes in how highway projects are approved and funded.
- County Mayor: Requires co-signature on highway department expenditures, providing fiscal oversight.
- Local infrastructure planning: The advisory committee option could influence prioritization of road projects through formal recommendations.
Notes
- The bill explicitly references alignment with the Tennessee County Uniform Highway Law and allows for future amendments to those laws to affect the superintendent’s role and compensation.
- Local approval is a prerequisite for the act to take effect.
