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Can our Township Board appoint one of our board members to carry out another office of the Township?

Generally, yes. The Township needs to consider implications from the Incompatible Public Offices Act, MCL 15.181 et seq. Generally, a public official may not hold two offices which results in any of the following:

(i) The subordination of 1 public office to another.

(ii) The supervision of 1 public office by another.

(iii) A breach of duty of public office.

But the Incompatible Public Offices Act provides an exception for smaller townships. MCL 15.183(4)(c) provides that the Act does not limit the authority of the governing body of a township “having a population of less than 40,000 to authorize a public officer or public employee to perform, with or without compensation, other additional services for the unit of local government.” Although a Michigan Court has yet to interpret this provision, several Attorney General Opinions have analyzed this exception to incompatibility and construed it broadly, including to allow members of legislative bodies to serve on other public bodies that would otherwise be incompatible. See OAG No 6753 (1993), and OAG No 7105 (2002). Therefore, in smaller townships the Township Board may authorize a board member to perform other services that may otherwise be in conflict.

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