2024 - Rehoboth Codification Project Approved - THANK YOU REHOBOTH!
EXCITING NEWS – NEW BYLAW CODIFICATION PROJECT WAS APPROVED AT THE 9-30-2024 SPECIAL TOWN MEETING ~ THANK YOU REHOBOTH!!!
We are truly excited to report that Rehoboth’s bylaws will soon be available online in an easily searchable format for all residents to use, as well as in a PDF or paper format. Back on May 15, 2023 the Board of Selectmen signed an Agreement with the General Code* company to codify Rehoboth’s bylaws. The project does not change the meanings or applications of any bylaws. This project was paid with ARPA Funds, at no cost to the Town. Thank you, all involved with the Codification process, and I would like to especially thank Dr. Richard Panofsky, who has been my partner throughout the codification process and extremely helpful in bringing this project to a successful completion. Richard, I appreciate your many hours of meetings, dedicated to reviewing and bettering the appearance of our Town bylaws!!! Thank you Town of Rehoboth for approving the bylaw changes at the 6-4-2024 and 9-30-2024 Annual & Special Town Meetings. Now the Attorney General's Office will review Town Meeting's vote and hopefully by the end of the year we will have our new eCode-360 Codified Bylaws online for all to use at their convenience 24/7.
This webpage gives detailed explanations of the project, which comes up for a vote at our Spring & Fall Town Meetings. We want everyone to understand and support this wonderful tool making “Town Government” more accessible and transparent for all residents and voters.
WHAT DOES CODIFICATION MEAN FOR US?
If you ever tried to find something in our bylaws, it is very difficult unless you know the exact terms and use a “search.” Now Rehoboth residents can use our bylaws in a comprehensive, up-to-date and understandable format. Rehoboth staff can gather the information they need to answer questions from both citizens and town officials more easily. All this will improve transparency within our community while accurately reflecting our existing laws in an understandable format.
Oxford defines “cod·i·fi·ca·tion” as “the action or process of arranging laws or rules according to a system or plan.” Working with our officers and committees at every step, the General Code company has applied a systematic numbering scheme, improved titles, and placed related bylaws closer together. They then undertook a complete review to ensure that our bylaws do not contain inconsistencies, errors or outdated citations of state statutes. Town positions, committee names, and other factual details are updated to those in current use. The Codification of the Rehoboth bylaws (the Code) will be presented in an easily searchable online version accessed from our town website. The same site will present important town regulations as well, also carefully checked by the appropriate managers and boards.
WHO IS *GENERAL CODE* AND WHAT DO THEY DO?
General Code is here to help us with their state-specific knowledge. They have 60 years of codification expertise serving over 4,000 municipalities across the United States and Canada and extensive experience in Massachusetts, now serving 144 cities and towns (in Bristol County, the Towns of Dartmouth, Easton, Fairhaven, Mansfield, North Attleboro, Norton, Raynham and Swansea and the cities of Fall River and Taunton have their bylaws/ordinances codified with General Code). In addition to Rehoboth, six more Massachusetts communities are in the process of codifying their bylaws. More detailed descriptions can be accessed in the links at the end of this article.
WHAT PROCESS HAVE WE FOLLOWED ?
The codification process consisted of four review sessions between General Code, Town department heads and committee/board/commission chairs (or their designees), along with Town Counsel’s review of both the General and Zoning bylaw upgrades to prepare the version now being presented for approval at Town Meeting.
- Step 1 – Organizational Analysis with Reorganization and Renumbering of the Code/Bylaws – May 2023-July 21, 2023 - The primary purpose of this Organizational Analysis is to establish the organization of the Town Code, to ensure that everything used to prepare the Code is accurate, complete and current; and to review the project scope and deliverables. The proposed Table of Contents was reorganized and renumbered based on feedback received from Rehoboth staff and boards/committees/commissions.
- Step 2 – Editorial and Legal Analysis with Manuscript – The document was organized into a logical system of chapters arranged in alphabetical order by subject matter based on feedback in step one. At this phase of the project, General Code also prepared an Editorial and Legal Analysis, sending the Town 191 different questions requiring our careful review. The 191 questions included the following:
- Identification of duplications, conflicts, and inconsistencies between or within various sections of the Code.
- Identification of duplications, conflicts, and inconsistencies with Massachusetts statutes.
- Any practical recommendations to make our legislation more enforceable.
- Suggestions regarding fines, fees, and penalties.
- Suggestions on ways to modernize our legislation.
The Board of Selectmen made a specific decision only to pursue the kinds of changes in the first two bullets. All Town department heads, board/committee/commission chairs (or their designees) had 45 days to review the 191 questions. All our comments were recorded in the online version available for continual review. Once the document was completed by the January 8, 2024 deadline, the results were submitted to General Code for their incorporation into the “Preliminary Draft” – step three of the project.
- Step 3 – Preliminary Draft Review – Within 25-days of the Town’s submission above, General Code prepared a Preliminary Draft incorporating all the comments and submissions from the subject matter experts. At this time, Rehoboth had another 20-days to review and make any final changes before moving to the final step four – “Final Draft – Adoption at Town Meeting.”
- Step 4 – Final Draft Review for Adoption at Town Meeting – Within 20-days of the Town’s Preliminary Draft submission, General Code prepared the final draft, which was forwarded to the Town along with proposed warrant articles to be placed before Town Meeting on June 4, 2024. One final review was made by all the participating individuals, and public hearings were scheduled, as required by law, with Conservation (May 7, 2024) and the Planning Board (May 15, 2024 and September 18, 2024).
Printed documents will be available for review at the Town Clerk’s Office, prior to Town Meeting vote, if anyone is unable to view online.
IMPORTANT TO KNOW . . . MEANINGS AND REQUIREMENTS ARE NOT CHANGED
None of the meanings or requirements of the bylaws are changed. At the instruction of the Board of Selectmen, the project specifically does not encompass substantive content changes. If and when content changes are desired, they will be presented in a future Town Meeting. State law requires even editorial changes and routine updating of bylaws to be approved by voters in town meeting.
Changes are made to repair problems that inevitably occur over time in such documents: typos and duplications, bad grammar, and out-of-date legal references. Additionally, over the years, various town offices have changed their names and some officials have new titles; and managers, other officials, and committees are now organized in separate lists. As explained above, all changes have been researched and checked by Rehoboth town officials and each affected town committee, commission, and board to ensure and verify that they are not modifying the meaning or application of the bylaws that we have. Please Note: On May 13, 2024 the Board of Selectmen voted to only put the renumbering and reording articles on the Spring Town Meeting warrant. They deferred the above mentioned repairs to our bylaws at the Fall Town Meeting; September 30, 2024 (MONDAY) Francis Hall Building.
Thank you for reviewing Rehoboth’s new codification of our Town bylaws. We hope you will join us at Town Meeting to vote “yes” for Rehoboth’s updated, user friendly, and fully searchable Town bylaws. Please do not hesitate to contact the Town Clerk’s Office with any questions prior to Town Meeting.
