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A.  All members of a regional transit entity board shall receive and complete at least six hours of annual training, beginning the first year any such member takes office. The training shall be approved by the staff of the regional planning commission where the regional transit entity is located and shall include the duties, responsibilities, ethics, and substance of the positions held or to be held by such members.

B.  The regional planning commission staff shall determine the eligibility of training sessions to be counted for purposes of this Section.  Board members may attend training sessions covering topics that include but are not limited to transit planning; financing, operations, and design best practices; parliamentary procedure; public hearing procedure; cultural sensitivity; ethics; workforce and labor issues; public engagement; transit entity governance; and requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

C.  Board members shall document their attendance of training sessions in a written statement filed with the chief executive officer of the regional transit entity. Each statement shall identify the date of each program attended, its subject matter, location, sponsors, and the time spent in each program.  The chief executive officer shall submit the documentation to the regional planning commission annually.

D.  Failure of a member to receive and complete the requisite number of training hours within the first year after the member takes office and annually thereafter or to file the statement required by Subsection C of this Section shall constitute a cause for removal of the member by the appointing authority.

E.  Failure of one or more members to receive and complete training required by this Section shall not affect, impact, or invalidate any action taken by a regional transit entity board.

F.  The provisions of this Section shall apply only to persons appointed to a regional transit entity board on and after January 1, 2015.

G.  As used in this Section, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless the context requires otherwise:

(1)  “Board” means the board or commission which serves as the governing body of a regional transit entity.

(2)  “Regional transit entity” includes each area public transit system and regional public transit authority that administers a public transit system within a metropolitan area and that is created by law as a political subdivision of the state.

Acts 2014, No. 460, §1; Acts 2014, No. 676, §1.