City of Rogers Government

The government of Rogers is a mayor-council form of government. 
 It is divided into three branches:
the executive, the legislative, and the judicial.  The executive is the Mayor. The legislative is the city council.  The judicial is the courts.  The officials of each branch are elected directly by the people.


The Executive Branch

The Mayor is responsible for seeing that laws are enforced, preparing and administering the municipal budget, recommending appointments to commissions, and lobbying on behalf of the city in matters pertaining to State or Federal legislation.  The Mayor is elected for a four year term.
 

The Legislative Branch

The city is divided into four parts called wards. The city council has eight members, two from each ward. They are elected by the people for two year terms. The city council is the main government for Rogers. They make the laws, called ordinances,
for the city. They collect money for the city and they make the budget. A budget is a plan for how the city council and mayor will spend money. They can also override the mayor's veto by a two-thirds vote. The city council meetings are held twice a month and are open to the public, which means anyone can go.

The city clerk is elected by the people for a four year term and keeps all the city records like the minutes of the city council meetings.  "Minutes" are a written record of what everybody says and does at the city council meeting. The city clerk also keeps all legal documents like the laws that are passed.
 

The Judicial Branch

The city judge, called the municipal judge, is the judge at the city court. He is elected by the people for a four year term He has to have special qualities to be a judge.

The municipal or city judge has a court clerk who is not elected by the people.
The court clerk keeps track of all the city court cases.  He hands out warrants, subpoenas and summonses which tell people that they have to come to court.
He also collects the money for the courts and sends the money to the city.

The city attorney is elected by the people for a four year term and he has to be a practicing or real attorney. he represents the city in all legal matters. He attends all the city council meetings and prepares the legal documents for the city.  He also provides a lot of advice to the city officials.

The City treasurer is hired by the mayor and the city council, and takes care of the money for the city. the Mayor and the finance committee make a budget every year for the city council. The budget is approved by the city council by February 1st of each year.