Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board Drafting Manual.
The purpose of this guide is to provide a uniform style and thoughtful/necessary considerations for drafting Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians Codes and Resolutions. Our goal is to inform staff with little previous experience, and assist those who have had some experience collaborating with departments and the Lac Courte Oreilles Office of the Attorney General.
Section 1. Division of Responsibilities.
(a) Department staff responsible for the resolution should work with the Lac Courte Oreilles Office of the Attorney General to complete the project. The department staff shall describe the goals of the project and explain the concepts to be incorporated into the resolution. Generally, it will be the responsibility of the Attorney General's Office to draft the resolution.
(b) In any Code amendment, the drafter shall take time to eliminate duplicative provisions in a particular chapter, subchapter, section, or subsection.
(c) The drafter shall consider powers and duties of boards, commissions, or officers, as defined, and if a new responsibility is proposed, an appropriate amendment should be made.
(d) The Lac Courte Oreilles Office of the Attorney General is responsible for the final formatting of all resolutions and for the publication of resolutions.
Section 2. General Formatting Guidelines.
(a) Page layout.
(1) Bottom, Left, & Right margins at 1", Bottom at 0.4"
(2) Text is formatted to be ragged right
(3) Font is Times New Roman at 12 pt.
(4) Line spacing shall be 1.0 and a blank line shall follow each paragraph.
(5) Page numbers shall be at the top of all pages starting on page 2, Times New Roman, 12 point, .50 margin from the top, left & right margins at 1" as follows:
Resolution No. YYYY-#
Page # of #
(b) Grammar, Punctuation, Capitalization.
(1) "Title", "Chapter", "Subchapter", and "Section" shall be capitalized. Subsection shall be lower-case.
(2) Capitalize "Tribal Governing Board" and "Tribe" if referring to the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; "Code" when referring to Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law; "State" when referring to the State of Wisconsin; "Federal" when referring to the United States.
(3) Titles of Federal, State, or County codes and agencies shall be capitalized, such as Vehicle Code, Subdivision Map Act, or Board of Supervisors.
(4) Commas shall be used to separate all items in a series: "planes, trains, and automobiles"; "tax, fee, or assessment".
(5) Numbers from 1-99 will be written out: two (2), ninety-nine (99). Numbers over 99 are written as numbers such as 115. Spell out fractions like one-fourth but keep decimals as numbers like 3.25 or .015.
(6) Time of day will be: 11:30 p.m., 12 Noon, 1:15 a.m.
(7) Abbreviations should be avoided, type "square feet" not "sq. ft."
(c) Citations.
(1) The following may be used for Lac Courte Oreilles documents:
(A) Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law: "the Tribal Code", or "LCOTCL", or "this Code" (as applicable).
(B) Amended Constitution and Bylaws of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians: "Tribal Constitution", or "LCO Constitution" (as applicable);
(C) Tribal Governing Board Resolution: "Resolution No. YYYY-#" or "this Resolution" (as applicable);
(d) Drafting Terms and Phrases.
(1) Only "shall" is enforceable. Neither "must" nor "will" shall be used to indicate imperative.
(2) All references to an obligation by the Tribe or by an employee or an officer of the Tribe shall use the term "may".
(3) If a particular section or chapter is to be criminally enforceable, that section or at least one section in the chapter has to provide language as follows: "It is unlawful…" or "No person shall…".
(4) Remember that the heading of an ordinance, such as "Density Limit" or "Tax To Be Paid", is not a part of an ordinance itself, so if that heading wording is to be part of the ordinance, it has to be placed in the text itself.
(e) Subsections.
(1) Titles.
(A) Titles are optional.
(B) Titles shall be sentence cased and end with a period or colon.
(C) Titles, including terminating punctuation shall be bold.
(D) Subsection text shall continue on the same line as the title.
(2) Numbered subsections. Numbered subsections shall have a first line indent of 0.5" and be numbered and left indented according to the following sequence:
(A) consecutive lower-case letters with left indent of 0";
(B) consecutive Arabic numerals with left indent of 0.5";
(C) consecutive upper-case letters with left indent of 1"; and
(D) consecutive lower-case Roman numerals with left indent of 1.5".
(E) consecutive upper-case Roman numerals with left indent of 2".
Where each number is of the format "(<para num>)" with a trailing space.
(3) Unnumbered subsections.
(A) Unnumbered subsections belonging to a section shall have a 0" left indent and a 0" first line indent.
(B) Unnumbered subsections belonging to a numbered subsection shall be indented to match the numbered subsection.
(4) Lists. When a multiple subsections are to be construed together as a list, all except the last shall end with a semicolon. A conjunction, such as "or" or "and" shall be placed after the semicolon of the next-to-last subsection. The last subsection shall end with a period.
Section 3. Code guidelines.
(a) Titles.
(1) Titles shall be "numbered" with three capitalized letters: "Title <title num>".
(2) A title case title is required without a trailing period.
(3) Title num and title shall be centered and bold.
(b) Chapters.
(1) Chapters shall be numbered with sequential Arabic numerals: "Chapter <title num>.<chapter num>".
(2) A title case title is required without a trailing period.
(3) Chapter num and title shall be centered and bold.
(4) Chapters shall not include a table of contents.
(c) Subchapters.
(1) Subchapters shall be numbered with sequential Arabic numerals: "Subchapter <title num>.<chapter num>.<subchapter num>".
(2) A title case title is required without a trailing period.
(3) Subchapter num and title shall be centered and bold.
(c) Parts.
(1) Parts shall be numbered with two zero-padded sequential Arabic numerals: "Part <part num>".
(2) A title case title is required without a trailing period.
(3) Part num and title shall be centered and bold.
(d) Sections.
(1) Sections shall be numbered with three zero-padded Arabic numerals in sequential multiples of ten: "<title num>.<chapter num>.<subchapter num>.<section num>".
(2) A title case title is required without a trailing period.
(3) Section num and title shall be bold.
(4) Section text shall start on a new line following the title.
Section 4. Resolution guidelines.
(a) Banner and Title.
(1) The banner and title shall be in the following form:
Resolution No. YYYY-#
<Title>
(2) The title shall be in title-case and start with an action (Amendment, Establishment, Ratification, Repeal) followed by "of" and then "Title <title num>, Chapter <chapter num>" with the title number and chapter number corresponding to the Code Title and Chapter affected. The title shall then end with "of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians Tribal Code of Law".
(b) Recitals.
(1) Leading conjunctions shall be all-caps and bolded. The last recital shall be followed by:
"NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:", and (optionally);
"NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:"
(2) Mandatory Recitals. The following recitals shall be included as the first three recitals of every resolution:
(A) Federally Recognized Tribe.
WHEREAS, the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians ("Tribe") is a federally recognized Indian tribe organized pursuant to the provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, 25 U.S.C. § 5101, et seq.; and
(B) Tribal Governing Board.
WHEREAS, the Tribal Governing Board serves as the governing body of Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians pursuant to Article III, Section 1 of the Amended Constitution and Bylaws of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians; and
(C) Powers of the Tribal Governing Board.
WHEREAS, pursuant to Article V, Section 1(l) and (m) of the Amended Constitution and Bylaws of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, empowers the Tribal Governing Board to: "organize, charter and regulate any association or group, including a housing authority, for the purpose of providing social or economic benefits to the members of the Band or residents of the reservation" Article V, Section 1 (l); and "delegate to subordinate boards, officers, committees or cooperative associations which are open to all members of the Band any of the foregoing powers, reserving the right to review any action taken by virtue of such delegated powers" Article V, Section 1 (m).
(c) Sections.
(1) Sections shall be numbered with sequential Arabic numerals and a trailing period: "Section <section num>.".
(2) Titles.
(A) A section title is optional.
(B) Titles shall be sentence-case and end with a period or colon.
(C) Titles, including terminating punctuation shall be bold.
(3) Section num and title (if present) shall be bold.
(4) Text shall continue on same line as the section number.
(d) Amendatory language. Ordinances shall use the following language to effectuate amendments to the code:
(1) Chapter.
(A) Add: 'Chapter WWW.X of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is added to Title WWW as follows:'
(B) Repeal: 'Chapter WWW.X of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is repealed.'
(C) Amend: Amendment of a Chapter in its entirety is prohibited. Instead create, amend, and repeal the appropriate sections. To amend a Chapter title: 'The title of Chapter WWW.X of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is amended as follows: "Chapter Title".'
(D) Redesignate: 'Chapter WWW.X of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is redesignated as Chapter AAA.B'
(E) Redesignate and Amend: 'Chapter WWW.X of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is redesignated as Chapter AAA.B and amended as follows:'
(2) Subchapter.
(A) Add: 'Subchapter WWW.X.Y of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is added to Chapter WWW.X as follows:'
(B) Repeal: 'Subchapter WWW.X.Y of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is repealed.'
(C) Amend: Amendment of a Subchapter in its entirety is prohibited. Instead create, amend, and repeal the appropriate sections. To amend a Subchapter title: 'The title of Subchapter WWW.X.Y of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is amended as follows: "Subchapter Title".'
(D) Redesignate: 'Subchapter WWW.X.Y of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is redesignated as Subchapter AAA.B.C'
(E) Redesignate and Amend: 'Subchapter WWW.X.Y of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is redesignated as Subchapter AAA.B.C and amended as follows:'
(3) Section.
(A) Add: When inserting a section between two existing sections, the section should use the number closest to the midpoint between the numbers of the neighboring sections. 'Section WWW.X.Y.ZZZ of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is added to Subchapter WWW.X.Y as follows:'
(B) Repeal: 'Section WWW.X.Y.ZZZ of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is repealed.'
(C) Amend: 'Section WWW.X.Y.ZZZ of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is amended as follows:'
(D) Redesignate: 'Section WWW.X.Y.ZZZ of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is redesignated as Section AAA.B.C.DDD'
(E) Redesignate and Amend: 'Section WWW.X.Y.ZZZ of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is redesignated as Section AAA.B.C.DDD and amended as follows:'
(4) Subsection.
(A) Add: 'Subsection (AA)(…) of Section WWW.X.Y.ZZZ of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is added to Section WWW.X.Y.ZZZ(…) as follows:'
(B) Repeal: 'Subsection (AA)(…) of Section WWW.X.Y.ZZZ of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is repealed.'
(C) Amend: 'Subsection (AA)(…) of Section WWW.X.Y.ZZZ of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is amended as follows:'
(D) Redesignate: 'Subsection (AA)(…) of Section WWW.X.Y.ZZZ of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is redesignated as Subsection (BB)(…) of Section WWW.X.Y.ZZZ'
(E) Redesignate and Amend: 'Subsection (AA)(…) of Section WWW.X.Y.ZZZ of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Code of Law is redesignated as Subsection (BB)(…) of Section WWW.X.Y.ZZZ and amended as follows:'
(e) Certification.
(1) The Certification shall be in the following form:
Certification
I, the undersigned, as Secretary/Treasurer of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board, hereby certify that the Tribal Governing Board is composed of seven (7) members, of whom _ being present, constituted a quorum at a meeting thereof, duly called, convened, and held on this <day> day of <month>, <year>; that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted at said meeting by an affirmative vote of __ members, __ against, __ abstaining, that said resolution will become effective on <day> day of <month>, <year>, and that said Resolution has not been rescinded or amended in any way.
__________________________________________
<name>, Secretary/Treasurer
Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board
(f) Amendment of existing code. When an existing section of the code that does not conform to this manual is amended, the section shall be amended in its entirety to bring it into conformance with this manual.