DUTIES OF THE MUNICIPAL CLERK

THOMAS A. MATTHEWS, J. D., Legal Consultant, Illinois Municipal League

The multiplicity and great variety of the duties of Municipal Clerk make it impossible to do more than briefly outline or mention them in an article of this kind. An examination of the Index to the Revised Statutes of Illinois will show that there are over a hundred items or notations under the heading "City Clerk or Municipal Clerk"—items having to do with the functions of that office. These functions include not merely keeping a record of the proceedings of the governing body, but general supervision over the finances of the municipality, the keeping of all municipal records and such specific and apparently unrelated matters as the duty of filing each year with the State Department of Health the names of the Mayor or President, Clerk, members of the Board of Health, and the name of the Quarantine Enforcement Officer; and of filing a certificate as to the death of policemen or firemen if a municipality makes provision (other than regular pension provision) for payment in such event. These are the statutory duties of the Municipal Clerk.

In addition the Clerk has such other duties as may be assigned to him by the governing body.

Generally, the duties of Municipal Clerk may be organized under the following heading: Recording of the proceedings of the governing body; notice to newly elected or appointed officers; and filing Oath and Bonds; custody and certificates to municipal documents; supervision over financial records; making of specific reports; duties in connection with election; attestation of signatures and certificates to matters of public record; representing the municipality in the service of process or correspondence; and non-municipal functions such as the issuance of State Hunting and Fishing licenses and acting as Registrar of Vital Statistics.

Duties Relative to Proceedings of Council or Board
The Municipal Clerk is required to attend all meetings of the City Council or Board of Trustees, and to keep a full journal of its proceedings. He must also retain all documents filed in his office concerning the activities of the municipality. The duties of a clerk in a Commission Form City—in this respect—are the same as those of Clerk in other municipalities (See 111. Rev. Statute, Chapter 24, pp. 9-69, and 19-9).

The Journal of Proceedings of course, should show the date of each meeting, whether it is regular, special, or an adjourned meeting, and the members of the governing body who are present. The journal should also state clearly every formal action taken and the vote on all measures presented. Ordinances need not be written verbatim into the journal but should be indicated clearly by title; the same is true of Resolutions.

The journal entry should show the presentation of any ordinance, resolution or other measure; the motion that the same be adopted, and the vote. If the measure is one requiring a roll-call vote the minutes should show the individual members voting each way on the question, even though a failure to do so does not affect the validity of the action.

The minutes should also show the receipt of all petitions, communications and reports submitted to the governing body; and should also show in a summarized form the contents of each such report or document. It is not necessary to report such reports or communications verbatim In the minutes.

The precise details of the minutes and records of proceedings will be covered in another article submitted at this 1957 Conference.

In addition to the journal showing official action on ordinances, the clerk is required to keep a separate book of ordinances in which should appear all ordinances enacted by the municipality together with a record of the date of enactment and of publication (See Chapter 24, pp. 10-4). A certified copy of this record of the ordinances and of the proceedings in connection therewith is prima facie evidence of the contents, passage and publication of the ordinance.

Newly Appointed or Elected Officials
Upon the appointment or election of any person to a municipal office it is the duty of the Municipal Clerk within five days after the result of the election is declared or the appointment made, to notify such persons of their election or appointment; the office becomes vacant unless the person so elected or appointed qualifies within ten days after such notice (See Chapter 24, pp. 9-6).

It is the duty of the Mayor or President to issue a certificate of appointment or election to the Municipal Clerk; and all persons so appointed or elected are entitled to a warrant signed by the Clerk indicating such appointment or election (See Chapter 24, pp. 9-88).

All officers are required to file an oath upon their election or appointment, which oath is filed with and retained by the Municipal Clerk—excepting where by Statute (as in the case of the Police Magistrate, or the Council in Commission Form Cities) provision is made for filing these oaths elsewhere.

Similarly, where a bond is required as a pre-requisite to holding a municipal office the bond is filed with the clerk unless a statute otherwise provides; excepting that the bond of the clerk is filed with the Municipal Treasurer.

The Municipal Clerk has the power to administer oaths.

Custody of Documents and Seal
The Municipal Clerk is custodian of the municipal seal and of all papers or documents belonging to the municipality which are not specifically given to some other officer for custody. Since certified copies of municipal documents are evidence as to the contents thereof, one of the clerk's duties is to prepare copies of documents in his custody and certify as to their correctness for persons entitled thereto.

There is no statutory provision as to the compensation to be paid to the City or Village for the preparation of certified copies of ordinances or other records. It would seem that a reasonable charge could be made for preparing copies of any municipal documents, or for the time that must be spent in examining a copy submitted by someone else to determine whether it is correct before the clerk certifies to its accuracy.

There is no provision as to how long a time municipal records must be kept—excepting the provision as to holding and disposing of ballots used in an election—other than that found in Chapter 24, pp. 9-69.1, which specifically authorizes the destruction of records pertaining to licenses after twenty years.

Obviously, records pertaining to governmental acts, such as Journal of Proceedings and Record of Ordinances, should be kept permanently; so should ordinances pertaining to annexations, disconnections, establishing or vacating streets or other public places and similar records. For receipts and ordinary correspondence, disposal of any such documents should be deferred until by reason of the Statute of Limitations no action can be maintained against the municipality.

A proposal will be made to the Legislature shortly for specific authority to dispose of non-essential municipal records at prescribed intervals.

Financial Duties
The Municipal Clerk is given rather extensive power and duties in connection with the financial record of a municipality where there is no Comptroller; if there is a Municipal Comptroller most of these duties are exercised by that official (See Ill. Rev. Statutes, Chapter 24, pp. 9-64 to 67).

* Paper delivered at the 44th Annual Conference of the Illinois Municipal League, Springfield, November 11th (Municipal Clerks' section).

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Summarized, these provisions require the clerk to keep a correct list of all outstanding bonds, showing number and amount of each, and for what and to whom the bonds were issued. These records must also indicate if such bonds are purchased, paid, or cancelled. The bond ordinance itself generally provides for the method of registering bonds It registration is permitted.

The Statutes also provide that the Clerks shall exercise general supervision over all officers of the municipality "charged in any manner with the receipt, collection, or disbursement of municipal revenue, or with the collection and return of municipal revenue into the Treasury."

The Clerk is also directed by pp. 9.67 of Chapter 24, to prepare "on or before the 15th day of May of each year, and before the Annual Appropriation Ordinance is prepared" a report showing the amount of money estimated to be needed to defray the expenses of the municipality during the current fiscal year. This report should clarify the different objects and purposes of the expenditures, show the aggregate income of the preceding fiscal year from all sources, show the amount of liabilities upon which interest is to be paid; the bonds and debts payable during the year—and the report shall contain such other information as may be necessary so that the corporate authorities may understand the demands upon the municipality for the current fiscal year.

Since the Treasurer is not authorized to pay out any sums except upon a warrant signed by the Mayor, or President, and Clerk (See Chapter 24, pp. 15-4), it is the duty of the Clerk (or Comptroller) to sign such warrants which must be specific in showing the fund from which they are payable, and no warrant shall be issued unless there is money available to meet it. The Clerk is also required to attest signature of Mayor or President on all bonds and vouchers.

Specific Reports
In addition to his general duties, the Clerk is specifically required to publish the annual report of the Collector and of the Treasurer, (See Chapter 24, pp. 9-56, and 9-62). The provision as to the time of making and publishing these reports has been changed by a recent enactment of the Legislature so that instead of this Annual Report being filed between the 1st and 10th of April of each year, it is now to be filed and published following the expiration of the fiscal year.

The Clerk is also required by Chapter 111 1/2, pp. 35-B and C, to report to the State Department of Health the name of the Mayor or President, Clerk, Health Officer, or members of the Board of Health and the Quarantine Enforcement Officer. This report must be made on May 1st of each year.

Elections
In Municipalities which have not adopted a Board of Election Commissioners, under Article 6 of Chapter 24 of Revised Statutes, the conduct of elections is under the supervision of the Municipality itself. The City Council or Board of Trustees calls the election and prescribes the voting district, polling places, and the form of the ballot—unless a particular form for a particular proposition is prescribed by statute. For those cities having a Board of Election Commissioners, the municipal clerk merely certifies to that Board the adoption of any measures calling for a special or general election.

"Where the municipality has not adopted the Board of Election Commissioners statute, the duties of the clerk in connection with an election are numerous and varied. These duties, together with forms for the assistance of clerks, are covered in full in the Municipal Election Manual published by the Illinois Municipal League in 1957. A new manual to take into account the numerous changes in the election law will be published shortly, but these changes do not affect in any material way the duties of the clerk, and the 1957 manual is still a good guide as to those duties.

It is the duty of the clerk to publish or post all notices of election as required by law (See Chapter 24, pp. 9-3 and Chapter 46, pp. 7-15); and to prepare the ballots and other election materials needed and see to it that they are delivered to the election officials in each precinct, (See Chapter 24, pp. 19-22, and Chapter 46, pp. 16-5, 7-18, 7-60). Forms for these ballots and election materials and for the notices will be found in the Municipal Election Manual.

Nomination petitions, and petitions to call a Special Election are filed with the clerk whether or not there is a Board of Election Commissioners (See Chapter 24, pp. 19-21, Chapter 46, pp. 7-12, 10-2, 10-6). If there is a Board of Election Commissioners the clerk certifies the nomination to that Board (Chapter 46, pp. 7-14).

In the event of objections being filed to nomination papers these are filed with the clerk (See Chapter 46, pp. 10-8) and the clerk may be a member of the electoral board which passes on the objections it he is not directly concerned with the objections (See Chapter 46, pp. 10-8-9).

If there is a primary election the clerk is a member of the canvassing board for the municipal primary (See Chapter 46, pp. 7-56).

The clerk also has extensive duties in connection with the issuance of absentee ballots—which are also covered specifically in the Municipal Election Manual published by the League.

Where there is permanent registration, the clerk may be a deputy registrar by the county clerk—in Cook County the clerk is made a deputy registrar by statute (See Chapter 46, pp. 5-4; 4-4).

Certificates to Documents and Attestations
Although courts of record now take judicial cognizance of ordinances they do not take judicial cognizance of municipal records or other documents. However, a certified copy of a document or record in the custody of the clerk, certified by him as correct, is admissible in court as prima facie proof of the existence and contents of such document, and as to the tacts shown by the records (See Chapter 24, pp. 9-69, 10-4, 5 and Chapter 51, p. 14).

By Implication it is the duty of the clerk to prepare copies of municipal records or documents and to certify to the correctness of the same when a person with a legitimate right requests it. As mentioned before, we feel that a reasonable charge can be made for such service—and those charges should best be set by, or at least approved by, the governing body.

Official Notices and Correspondence
By the very nature of his office the clerk receives all communications addressed to the municipality or its governing body, where they are not addressed to any specific other official or employee, in addition to his receipt of petitions where a statute specifically provides that such petition shall be filed with him. Normally the clerk also acts as secretary to the governing body and writes any letters or delivers any notices directed by that body to be made. Legal process, such as summons, may be had upon the municipality by serving the clerk (See 111. Rev. Statute, Chapter 110, p. 18); notice of a personal injury claim against the municipality which must be filed (See Chapter 24, pp. 1-11) must be served upon the clerk.

Of course, it is the duty of the clerk when served with any notice of legal process to notify the Mayor or President and the Attorney immediately.

Non-Municipal Functions
In addition to the municipal duties imposed upon a clerk by Statute or ordinance the statutes designate certain other functions to that office. In many municipalities the clerk is made Registrar of Vital Statistics, and as such must keep the records and make reports to the State Department of Health as required by Chapter 111 1/2, p. 39.

The clerk also has the power to issue and receive fees for fishing and hunting licenses (See Chapter 56, pp. 226, 242; Chapter 61, pp. 187-189-211). When performing this function the clerk is acting as an officer of the state.

The Municipal Clerk is also authorized to issue bulk sales licenses under the "fraudulent sales act" found in (Continued on page 18)

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DUTIES OF THE MUNICIPAL CLERK

(Continued from page 9) Chapter 121 1/2, pp. 149 and 151. This act prohibits advertising a sale as a removal, going out of business, or liquidation sales, etc., or fire sale, without securing a license from the city or village clerk.

As indicated at the start of this article, it would be practically impossible to make an exhaustive itemization of all of the duties of Municipal Clerk. The foregoing is a fair summary of the various duties a Municipal Clerk is called upon by statute to perform. In connection with certain of these duties—as for example when the clerk is deputy registrar for permanent registration—he must make certain reports at stated times. Such reports will be found referred to in the Municipal Calendar published each year by the Illinois Municipal League. It should also be noted that where the statute requires generally that certain ordinances must be filed with the County Clerk or some other official, it is the duty of the clerk to see that such ordinance is filed. For example, a certified copy of the Tax Levy Ordinance must be filed with the County Clerk not later than the 2nd Tuesday of September of each year; copies of annexation of disconnection. ordinances must be filed with the County Clerk after their enactment; and there are numerous statutory provisions for the filing or recording of particular ordinances. It is the duty of the clerk to see that such ordinances are properly filed.

It Is also the duty of the clerk to see to the publication of ordinances containing a penalty, or making an appropriation, or calling for special elections where the statute requires such publications.

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