COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Branch County Board of Commissioners are scheduled to take formal action August 15 on a resolution that its members feel will reaffirm it as a “Constitutional County.”
They decided to bring the resolution forward during their work session on Thursday morning which attracted an overflow crowd to the Commission Chambers.
Unlike past meetings when citizens spoke in favor of the resolution, there were opposing viewpoints presented during the two public comment periods. Some in opposition worried about how Branch County would be perceived.
Commission Chair Tim Stoll read the proposed resolution.
Commissioner Tom Mathew wanted Commissioners to table the resolution until they heard from more citizens, law enforcement personal, Prosecutor Zack Stempien and their county attorney but his motion to table died for lack of a second.
The local effort to designate Branch County as a Constitutional County was prompted by tougher gun control laws following shootings at Michigan State University and Oxford High School and protocols that were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stoll asked County Administrator Bud Norman during the July 25 meeting to put together a draft resolution. St. Joseph, Tuscola, Ottawa and Livingston Counties have already passed Constitutional County resolutions.
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