CHAPTER 126
AN ACT TO AMEND AN ACT ENTITLED "HOUSING AUTHORITY" BEING CHAPTER 16, VOLUME 39, LAWS OF DELAWARE, BY REPEALING THE DUTIES OF THE RESIDENT JUDGE AND BY PROVIDING FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONERS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Delaware:
Section 1. Subsection (g), Section 2, Chapter 16, Volume 39, Laws of Delaware, is hereby repealed.
Section 2. Section 4, Chapter 16, Volume 39, Laws of Delaware, is amended by repealing the first paragraph thereof and by enacting a new first paragraph to read as follows:
Whenever the State Board of Housing shall have determined that there is need for a housing authority in any county or in any part of a county of the state, it shall issue to each appointing officer hereinafter named a certificate of such determination, describing the area of operation of the proposed authority, and as soon as possible thereafter an Authority shall be created by the appointment of six commissioners who shall constitute the Authority, all of whom shall be residents of the area in which the Authority operates. The Commissioners shall be appointed as follows: three by the Governor for initial terms of six years, four years and three years respectively; three by the Mayor of the most populous incorporated city or town in the area of operation in accordance with the last Federal Census for initial terms of five years, two years and one year respectively. Not more than two appointees of the Governor or of the Mayor at any one time shall be from the same political party or subdivision thereof. The terms of the Commissioners heretofore appointed shall continue until the expiration of the terms thereof. The first occurring appointment to succeed the appointee of the Resident Judge shall be made by the Mayor. The second occurring appointment to succeed the appointee of the Resident Judge shall be made by the Governor.
Section 3. The second paragraph of Section 4, Chapter 16, Volume 39, Laws of Delaware, is amended by deleting the words "Resident Judge" as the same appear therein.
Section 4. The third paragraph of Section 4, Chapter 16, Volume 39, Laws of Delaware, is amended by enacting a new third paragraph to read as follows:
The Governor and the Mayor by unanimous vote may remove a Commissioner of the Authority for official misconduct, neglect of duty or incompetence, but only after the Commissioner shall have been given a copy of the charges against him and an opportunity to be heard in person or by counsel in his own defense. Pending the determination of the charges against the Commissioner, the Governor and the Mayor by unanimous vote may suspend him from office. A copy of the charges and the result of the hearing shall be forwarded to the Board.
Approved July 1, 1959.