P.R. Laws tit. 21, § 4111
All municipalities of the Government of Puerto Rico shall follow the transition process set forth in this section.
(a) Inventory of the property of the municipalities.—
(1) The officials directing the administrative units of property, public works, finances, and personnel of each municipality shall render to the mayor a detailed report including an inventory and description of the property of the municipality, the value of which is greater than five hundred dollars ($500). This report shall be submitted on or before October 31 of each election year.
(b) Duration of the transition process of municipalities.—
(1) The transition process of the municipalities shall begin the fifteenth day after holding general elections and end on or before December 31 of the election year.
(c) Obligation of the mayor, his/her designated representatives or officials.—
(1) All mayors, his/her designated representatives or officials have the obligation and ministerial duty of participating in the transition process of their municipalities.
(d) Creation of transition committees.—
(1) In the event that the incumbent mayor is not reelected, an outgoing transition committee shall be designated to turn the administration of the municipality over to his/her successor in office. This committee shall be immediately constituted on the fifteenth working day after holding general elections and the members thereof shall be: the outgoing mayor, or the person designated by him/her; the deputy mayor or municipal administrator, the officials who direct administrative units such as the property, planning, finances, public works, personnel, and legal affairs offices and the President of the Municipal Legislature. The outgoing mayor may appoint up to three (3) additional officials, in his/her judgment, to the outgoing transition committee.
(2) The outgoing mayor or the person designated by him/her shall be the Chair of the Outgoing Committee. However, if the mayor fails to make such designation, the provisions of § 4107 of this title shall apply, which provide for the establishment of an acting mayor through an ordinance.
(3) The mayor-elect shall designate an incoming transition committee and inform in writing to the outgoing mayor not later than the fifteenth (15th) day after holding general elections and may designate thereto a maximum of ten (10) members. In addition, he/she shall designate the Chair of the Incoming Transition Committee.
If the outgoing mayor, his/her representatives or officials designated to the outgoing transition committee refuse to meet or comply with the provisions of this section, the incoming mayor may initiate the extraordinary proceeding of mandamus before the Court of First Instance in the Part of the Judicial District where the municipality is located to compel said outgoing mayor or transition committee to meet or comply with this section.
(e) Transition report.— The members of the transition committee shall render a written report to the mayor-elect on the general situation of the municipal finances and administration. A copy of such report shall be filed with the Office of the Clerk of the Municipal Legislature for it to remit a copy to the municipal legislators-elect. The Office of the Commissioner shall issue and circulate prior to May 1 of the year in which general elections are to be held, the necessary guidelines or regulations establishing the procedure to be followed by municipal officials to comply with the provisions of this section and the description of any documents, books, reports and others that are necessary to conduct an orderly transition. Such regulations shall be filed on or before February 1 of the election year with the library of the Office of Legislative Services, the Office of the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate. The Legislature shall issue any comments on or before sixty (60) days as of the filing thereof. In the event of inaction, it shall be deemed to be approved.
(1) Transition reports of each municipality shall include, without it being limited to, the following information and documents:
(A) A detailed description and information of the personnel status: number of permanent, transitory, and trust office employees. An account of positions and vacancies stating the class and salary schedules thereof without including the names of the employees.
(B) A copy of the classification and compensation plan in effect and the one proposed.
(C) Current status of any and all administrative units of the municipality.
(D) A financial report of the municipality with a copy of all of the audits conducted and the single audit report.
(E) A copy of the municipal property inventory.
(F) A detailed description and status of all judicial actions to which the municipality is a party and are pending in the Courts of Puerto Rico and the United States of America.
(G) A detailed description of any bids in process and those awarded over the past twelve (12) months.
(H) A compilation of all regulations, memoranda, circular letters, and norms of the municipality that are in effect at the time of the transition.
(I) A report of all legal actions initiated in or on behalf of the municipality at the state or federal level.
(J) A list of any approved laws and ordinances that affect the municipality.
(K) A copy of the Corrective Action Plan required by the Office of the Comptroller.
(L) A list containing the sum of the contract, the term thereof, and the services contracted. Likewise, it shall furnish a copy of all contracts in effect at the time of the transition.
(M) A detailed report on the services rendered by the Administration.
(N) A detailed report stating the current phase of the Land Ordination Plan. Likewise, a copy of every document related thereto.
(O) Any other information or document that, as agreed by the Chairs of the Incoming and Outgoing Transition Committees, needs to be disclosed.
(f) Transition report format.—
(1) All transition reports shall have a title, index, all pages numbered and all exhibits or additional documents properly identified.
(2) All transition reports shall be submitted in a format that allows a quick transfer to the Internet or access to the Automated Standard Accounting System.
(g) Oath and date of transition report.—
(1) Every mayor of a municipality shall issue a transition report with his/her signature and under oath. The transition report oath shall be administered by any notary or person authorized by law to administer oaths.
(2) Transition reports of all municipalities shall be final on or before October 31 of the election year.
(3) Transition reports shall be updated and completed so that the outgoing mayor may be able to provide the most recent information on the current status of the municipality during the transition hearing process. The updated report shall also be submitted under oath.
(h) Seat of the transition process.—
(1) The Town Hall of the municipality shall be the seat of the municipal transition process. If it is not possible to meet at the Town Hall, the Chairs of the Outgoing and the Incoming Transition Committees shall agree on the location to be used as the seat for the process.
(2) The outgoing mayor shall arrange an area for holding the transition process hearings and for the Executive Director of the Transition Process.
(i) Executive Director of the Municipal Transition Process.—
(1) The Chair of the Incoming Transition Committee shall designate an Executive Director of the Municipal Transition Process. The Executive Director shall carry out the functions entrusted by the Chair of the Incoming Transition Committee to comply with the purposes of this act, in addition to the following responsibilities:
(A) The Executive Director shall receive from the outgoing mayor the transition reports of the municipality and certify the date of receipt thereof and that the same comply with the provisions of this act.
(B) The Executive Director shall be responsible for making arrangements for storing the transition report and all documents related thereto. Likewise, he/she shall be responsible for making available for inspection by the media of the Island any information that is neither privileged nor confidential.
(C) The Executive Director shall be responsible for making the transition documents available to the citizens over the Internet.
(D) The Executive Director shall be the custodian of the keys of offices, vehicles, equipment, and any other material designated to be used during the transition process.
(j) Transition Committee Sessions.—
(1) The incoming and outgoing transition committees of the municipality shall convene in the Municipal Town Hall or the location agreed by the Chairs of the Incoming and Outgoing Transition Committees.
(2) The transition committee sessions shall follow the public hearing format in which the mayors answer the questions of the members of the incoming transition committee.
(3) Sessions shall be held at the time and on the date agreed by the Chairs of the Incoming and Outgoing Transition Committees. Sessions shall begin on or before December 1 of the election year.
(k) Public nature of transition sessions.—
(1) The media as well as the citizens shall have access to the transition committees’ sessions.
(2) The media shall not have access to the same only when information considered privileged or confidential is under discussion, as provided by this act.
(3) The Island’s media shall have access to all documents of the municipal transition, except to those considered privileged or confidential, as provided by this act.
(l) Confidential documents and information.—
(1) Any information or document, the disclosure of which is prohibited by any laws in effect or that affects the rights of third parties and investigations in process, shall be deemed to be confidential.
(m) Duties of the members of the transition committee.—
(1) The members of the incoming transition committee shall not have any direct or indirect financial interests.
(2) Any person who has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor which implies moral turpitude or any crime which conviction renders such person unable to contract with the Government, as provided in § 928b of Title 3, shall not be a member of the incoming transition committee.
(3) Any person who has a tax debt and is not complying with a payment plan shall not be a member of the transition committee.
(4) The members of the incoming transition committee shall execute a confidentiality agreement whereby they shall guarantee not to disclose, for their own benefit or to benefit a third party, any information that may be in their power while discharging his/her functions.
(5) The members of the incoming transition committee shall have, at all times, the duty of informing the Chair of the Committee in the event a conflict of interest or any situation that might violate the provisions of this act arises. If during the process any member of the incoming transition committee learns that he/she has a conflict of interest, he/she shall so inform immediately to the Chair of the Incoming Transition Committee and abstain from participating in any matters that are related to such conflict of interest.
(n) Final report.—
(1) Upon the conclusion of the transition process, the incoming transition committee shall prepare a written report to be entitled “Final Transition Process Report”.
(2) The “Final Transition Process Report” shall include the most important and significant aspects of the information garnered during the entire transition process.
(3) The format of the “Final Transition Process Report” shall be similar to that of the transition reports.
(4) The incoming transition committee shall render the “Final Transition Process Report” to the new mayor and the outgoing mayor not later than seven (7) days after the conclusion of the transition process, which shall end not later than December 31 of the election year. Furthermore, the incoming transition committee shall publish the final report over the Internet to facilitate access by citizens and interested persons.
(5) The incoming transition committee shall also remit a copy of the “Final Transition Process Report” to the Office of the Commissioner of Municipal Affairs (OCAM, Spanish acronym) not later than seven (7) days after the conclusion of the transition process.
(o) Vote retallying.—
(1) In the event the Commonwealth Elections Commission directs that votes be retallied for the office of mayor, the transition process shall not be halted and shall be conducted as provided by this act.
(2) In the event of a vote retallying, the outgoing transition committee shall be constituted by the members established in this act, and such members shall have the same duties and obligations as if no vote retallying were being conducted.
(p) Sanctions and penalties.—
(1) Perjury.— Any mayor who knowingly includes false information in a transition report on the status of the municipality, shall be guilty of the crime of perjury and upon conviction, he/she shall be sentenced to the punishment established by the Penal Code of Puerto Rico for such crime.
(2) Destruction or defacing of public documents.— Any official or employee of the municipality who destroys, loses, or conceals any kind of information, records or files, including electronic files, with the intention of delaying or hindering the transition process, or of avoiding his/her responsibility, shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction, he/she shall be sentenced to imprisonment for six (6) years. Should there be aggravating circumstances, the punishment may be increased to imprisonment for ten (10) years. Should there be extenuating circumstances, the punishment may be reduced to a minimum of four (4) years of imprisonment.
(3) Civil action.— Any members of the incoming transition committee who uses or discloses, for his/her financial benefit, or that of a client or relative up to the third degree of consanguinity and second degree of affinity, privileged business information of the municipality to which he/she may have had access during the transition process, may be sued by the municipality for damages in order to claim the award of a financial indemnity of up to three (3) times the revenue or economic benefit obtained for him/herself or a third party, from the privileged business information obtained while discharging his/her duties as a member of the incoming transition committee.
The court may impose a fine to any member of the outgoing or incoming transition committee or mayor for failing to comply with the provisions of this section. Said penalty or sanction shall not be less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 81, § 3.011; Apr. 13, 1995, No. 36, § 7; June 2, 2009, No. 25, § 1.