2023 -- H 6288
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LC000713
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S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
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A N A C T
AUTHORIZING BONNET SHORES FIRE DISTRICT TO HOLD A SPECIAL ELECTION
Introduced By: Representative Carol Hagan McEntee
Date Introduced: April 19, 2023
Referred To: House Municipal Government & Housing
(by request)
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 2, 3, 6 and 9 of the Act to Incorporate the Bonnet Shores Fire 1
District, as passed at the January Session A.D. 1932 as amended, is hereby further amended to read 2
as follows: 3
Sec. 2. Every firm, corporation, unincorporated association and every person irrespective 4
of sex, of the age of eighteen (18) years, who is possessed in his or her own right of real estate in 5
said district of the value of four hundred ($400) dollars over and above all encumbrances being an 6
estate in fee simple, fee tail, for the life of any person, or an estate in reversion or remainder, the 7
conveyance of which estate shall, if by deed, have been recorded at least ninety (90) days, shall 8
thereafter have a right to vote at all meetings of the corporation. Any such firm corporation, 9
unincorporated association having title to real estate as aforesaid, shall be entitled to cast one (1) 10
vote through its duly authorized representative for such purposes. The duly authorized 11
representative shall present to the clerk before casting its vote and obtaining a ballot, an 12
authorization by the firm, corporation or unincorporated association, which authorization by the 13
firm, corporation or unincorporated association, which authorization shall be notarized and clearly 14
identify the person authorized to vote on behalf of said firm, corporation, or unincorporated 15
association holding title to real estate. 16
Every person or firm qualified to vote as aforesaid shall vote in person, except that a person 17
in common ownership to real estate may vote as the proxy of the other person who has been verified 18
as being in common ownership in said real estate, provided that such proxy shall be in writing and 19
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filed with the clerk at the meeting at which such proxy shall be used. The proxy shall be in a form 1
to be furnished by the clerk or otherwise approved by the clerk. All voting shall be by ballot, unless 2
waived by unanimous consent of those present at the meeting and qualified to vote, and the action 3
of a majority at any meeting at which a quorum is present shall bind the district. 4
(a) All persons who reside in the Bonnet Shores Fire District, and who are duly registered 5
with, and eligible to vote in general or special elections in the Town of Narragansett, shall have the 6
right to vote for all offices to be elected and on all questions submitted to the electors of the Bonnet 7
Shores Fire District. 8
(b) In addition, every citizen of the United States of the age of eighteen (18) or over, who 9
while not domiciled in the Bonnet Shores Fire District has resided in a seasonal residence in the 10
Bonnet Shores Fire District for at least sixty (60) days in the twelve (12) month period next 11
preceding the time of an election, who is residing in said residence at the time of voting, and whose 12
name shall be registered with the duly appointed Bonnet Shores Fire District election canvasser at 13
least thirty (30) days next preceding the time of an election, shall be entitled to vote for all offices 14
to be elected and on all questions submitted to the electors of the Bonnet Shores Fire District. As 15
used in this paragraph, "residence" shall have its ordinary meaning and shall mean a location for 16
which a certificate of occupancy has been issued by the applicable local agency 17
(c) All persons qualified to vote in the Bonnet Shores Fire District elections who wish to 18
vote shall vote in person, or personally by such other means as may be approved by the Bonnet 19
Shores Fire District Council. No person may cast a ballot on behalf of another person. 20
(d) Nothing in this Section shall bar the Bonnet Shores Fire District Council from 21
establishing methods to allow qualified Bonnet Shores Fire District voters, as defined in this 22
section, to cast their ballots prior to the date of a Bonnet Shores Fire District election, or to cast 23
their ballots while absent from the Bonnet Shores Fire District, provided that: 24
(1) No such method may expand or alter the voter qualifications imposed in this section; 25
and 26
(2) No such method may permit a voter to cast a ballot on behalf of another. 27
SECTION 3. The first meeting of the district shall be held at some convenient place within 28
the district on the second Wednesday in May, 1932, at 7 o'clock P.M. eastern standard time (or 8 29
o'clock P.M. daylight saving time). The annual meeting of the district (if established) to be held in 30
1933 shall be held on the second Wednesday in May in that year, and thereafter the annual and 31
special meetings of the district shall be held in said Town of Narragansett at such time as shall be 32
specified in the by-laws of the district. Notice of the first meeting shall be given by two or more of 33
the persons qualified to vote within the district and said notice shall state the time and place of 34
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meeting and shall be published in some newspaper published in the city of Providence, once a week 1
for two successive weeks, the last publication to be at least five days next before the date of said 2
first meeting. Notice of subsequent annual meetings of the district shall be given in a manner as 3
prescribed in the by-laws of the district. A quorum at the first meeting of the district and at any 4
subsequent meeting, whether annual or special, shall consist of at least fifty voters qualified as 5
aforesaid, present in person, or by proxy (as to those cases where voting by proxy is permitted in 6
accordance with the provisions of Sec. 2 hereof). All voting shall be by ballot unless waived by 7
unanimous consent of those present at the meeting, and qualified to vote, and the action of a 8
majority at any meeting at which a quorum is present shall bind the district. 9
SECTION 6. The district may elect a clerk, three assessors of taxes, a collector of taxes, 10
one or more elections canvassers, a district council or of not less than three and no more than seven 11
qualified voters, one or more fire wardens, one or more police officers and such other officers and 12
committees as said, district may require for its corporate purposes. Such officers and committees 13
may be elected at the first meeting of the district to hold office until the first annual meeting 14
thereafter; and at such annual meeting and at each subsequent annual meeting of the district officers 15
and committees may be elected in such manner and for such terms of office as may be prescribed 16
in the by-laws. If the by-laws shall so provide, the members of the district council may be divided 17
into groups, one group to be elected annually to hold office for not more than three years. Vacancies 18
in any office may be filled at any annual meeting of the district, or at any special meeting called 19
for that purpose. The district council shall have general supervision and management of the 20
business and affairs of the district and, together with other officers and committees, shall have such 21
further powers and duties as may be created or imposed in the by laws of the district. The fire 22
wardens shall have such powers and duties as are generally exercised in fire districts within the 23
state, with such additional powers and duties as may be created or imposed in the by-laws of the 24
district. 25
SECTION 9. This act shall take effect from and after its acceptance by ballot as aforesaid 26
and when there shall have been filed with the secretary of state a certificate of the clerk of the 27
district which shall disclose such acceptance. 28
In the event that said district shall be established as provided in section 4 hereof, no 29
amendment of this act shall be effective as to said district unless and until the same shall be accepted 30
by the affirmative vote of a majority of the voters of said district present (or represented by proxy 31
as provided in section 2 hereof) at a special or annual meeting of said district duly held within two 32
years after the passage of such amendment, at which meeting a quorum shall be present, and in the 33
notice of which meeting there shall be contained the statement that the acceptance or rejection of 34
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such amendment is to be voted upon, and until there shall have been filed with the secretary of state 1
a certificate of the clerk of the district that such amendment has been accepted as aforesaid. 2
SECTION 2. The Act to Incorporate the Bonnet Shores Fire District, as passed at the 3
January Session AD. 1932, as amended, is hereby further amended by adding thereto the following 4
section: 5
SECTION 11. This act shall take effect from and after their acceptance by ballot by the 6
residents and qualified voters of the Bonnet Shores Fire District, and when there shall have been 7
filed with the secretary of state a certificate of the Clerk of the Bonnet Shores Fire District which 8
shall disclose such acceptance. The election to approve or reject these amendments shall be 9
conducted in the following manner: 10
(a) Electorate: The electorate for this election shall include: 11
1. All persons who, at the time of said election, reside in the Bonnet Shores Fire District, 12
and who are duly registered with, and eligible to vote in general or special elections in, the Town 13
of Narragansett; and 14
2. Every citizen of the United States of the age eighteen (18) or over, who, while not 15
domiciled in the Bonnet Shores Fire District, has resided in a seasonal residence in the Bonnet 16
Shores Fire District for at least sixty (60) days in the twelve (12) month period next preceding the 17
time of said election, who is residing in said residence at the time of voting, and whose name shall 18
be registered with the duly appointed Bonnet Shores Fire District election canvasser at least thirty 19
(30) days next preceding the time of said election. As used in this paragraph, "residence" shall have 20
its ordinary meaning and shall mean a location for which a certificate of occupancy has been issued 21
by the applicable local agency. 22
(b) The electorate shall not include: 23
1. Corporations, trusts, partnerships, LLCs, or other corporate entities; or 24
2. Individuals who do not reside in the Bonnet Shores Fire District and who do not 25
otherwise qualify to vote as set forth above. 26
(c) Date: Said election shall be held at a Special Meeting of the Bonnet Shores Fire District, 27
which Special Meeting shall be held before the next Annual Meeting of the Bonnet Shores Fire 28
District. 29
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage and the provisions of which be subject 30
to acceptance by ballot by the residents and qualified voters of the Bonnet Shores Fire District. 31
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
AUTHORIZING BONNET SHORES FIRE DISTRICT TO HOLD A SPECIAL ELECTION
***
This act would amend the Act to Incorporate the Bonnet Shores Fire District to determine 1
the electorate for the corporation and is an accurate and true representation of the amendments 2
provided to the General Assembly by the Bonnet Shores Charter Revision Committee at their 3
request. 4
This act would take effect upon passage and the provisions of which be subject to 5
acceptance by ballot by the residents and qualified voters of the Bonnet Shores Fire District. 6
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