¶ … Meeting Attended meeting of the Lawrence County Commission was attended on March 26, 2002 at 5:00 P.M. At the Lawrence County Court House. Structure of the Government Body

Lawrence County, Tennessee has 18 county commissioners. One commissioner is elected per district to serve a two-year term. Each commissioner is then assigned to a different subcommittee, where each subcommittee covers an area such as budget, school, highway and property taxes.

Each of the subcommittees meet several times a week to discuss their particular area.

All the commissioners then meet once a month where the ideas of each subcommittee are combined for discussion.

Each of the commissioners are paid $200 dollars a month for their role.

Observations of the Meeting

The meeting was opened by the Chairman, with the roll called followed by the invocation and the pledge. Resolutions were then submitted to the County Executive Offices to be reviewed at the meeting.

Having separate subcommittees focus on individual areas meant each issue could be dealt with thoroughly. It also meant efficient use of the commissioners' time since at the monthly meeting, the commissioners would only need to hear summaries and calls for changes instead of discussing every…