2024 City Charter Amendments

On April 2, 2024, voters approved the following propositions to the City Charter:

• Proposition 1 will modify Section 3.2 (a), (b), and (c) and Section 10.1(a) of the Charter to implement staggered terms. Proposition 1 will also modify Section 3.2 (d) and (e) to better clarify how and when districts shall be redrawn.
• Proposition 2 will modify Section 10.2, subsections (a), (c), and (e), Section 10.4, subsection (a) and (b), and Section 10.5, subsection (b) of the Charter to (i) clarify that candidates may not obtain petitions or signatures on petitions for multiple municipal offices, (ii) adjust the timeframes within which nominating petitions must be filed and candidacy for office must be withdrawn, (iii) clarify how candidates may be elected at the primary election, and (iv) adjust the timeframe within which declaration of election results must occur
• Proposition 3 will modify Section 4.2 to require a two-thirds vote of all members of the Council to remove the City Manager, which would make it consistent with the number of votes required to retain a City Manager.
• Proposition 6 will modify Section 6.4(a), Section 6.6(a), Section 6.13, and Section 8.5 to allow publication of notice through a wider variety of media outlets, in addition to newspapers.
• Proposition 7 will modify Section 9.2 to align the retirement age of the City of St. Joseph Municipal Judge with that of Associate Circuit Judges in Buchanan County, requiring the Municipal Judge, like Associate Circuit Court Judges, to retire upon completion of the term during which he or she turns 70 years of age.

On April 2, voters did not approve the following propositions to the City Charter:

• Proposition 4 will modify Sections 5.1 and 5.2 to vest authority in the Council to adopt ordinances to establish or modify departmental structure and a comprehensive personnel system.
• Proposition 5 will remove Sections 5.3, 5.4, and 18.1, establishing the Personnel Board and Museum Oversight Board, from the Charter and simultaneously incorporate these two boards into the Administrative Code of the City of St. Joseph as part of Article V (“Boards and Commissions”), along with all the other boards and commissions.

For more information including the full text of these propositions, please view the Charter Amendment Propositions (PDF).