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December 19, 2000 OPINION 00-387 Mr. David A. Ritchie Sulphur City Council P. O. Box 1309 Sulphur, LA 70664 Dear Mr. Ritchie: You advise this office that the Sulphur City Council is comprised of a five-member board. A question has arisen, specifically, whether an ordinance can be passed by a vote of two to one when there are only three council members present out of the five who are authorized by the charter to serve on the council. The home rule charter for the City of Sulphur contains the following provisions: Section 2-07 G. “. . . not less than a majority of the membership of the council shall constitute a quorum to transact business . . . “ Section 2-07 H. “All votes of the council shall be based on the authorized membership of the council.” Section 2-11 D. “All ordinances and resolutions shall be passed by the favorable vote of at least a majority of the authorized membership of the council except as otherwise provided in this chapter.” Rules of construction dictate that “words and phrases shall be read with their context and shall be construed according to the common and approved usage of language.” See R.S. 1:3. The Charter reflects that the majority of the authorized membership must vote to approve the passage of an ordinance. There is no provision for a majority of the quorum to approve an ordinance. Thus, a majority of the membership must be present to transact business, here, meaning three of the five members, and all three members must vote in favor of the passage of an ordinance in order to validly enact the ordinance, in order to comply with 71-1 Municipalities A majority of the entire authorized membership of the City Council of Sulphur must vote affirmatively to enact a valid ordinance. Mr. David A. Ritchie OPINION 00-387 Page 2 the Charter requirement that “a majority of the authorized membership of the council”, vote affirmatively to enact an ordinance. We hope the foregoing is helpful to you. Should you have further questions, please contact this office. Very truly yours, RICHARD P. IEYOUB ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: ________________________________ KERRY L. KILPATRICK ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL KLK:ams Mr. David A. Ritchie OPINION 00-387 Page 3 #00-387 71-1 Municipalities A majority of the entire authorized membership of the City Council of Sulphur must vote affirmatively to enact a valid ordinance. Mr. David A. Ritchie Sulphur City Council P. O. Box 1309 Sulphur, LA 70664 Date Received: Date Released: December 19, 2000 KERRY L. KILPATRICK ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL