Post Office Act

Post Office Act

Osolian law passed by Assembly
Osolian Assembly
Introduced by	Acting Speaker Michael Webb
Dates
Presented to the Assembly	27 June 2024
Commencement	28 June 2024
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through the Assembly
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Post Office Act is a law in Osolia, passed by the Osolian Assembly with 100% approval. This act creates the Osolian Post Office, which is responsible for handling the delivery of Osolians' packages throughout Osolia, including to far-off bases that are built outside of Osolia's formally recognized cities. It establishes how the Post Office is ran also, such as establishing a Postmaster to lead the Post Office's operation. It also ensures that postage theft is illegal and punishable by the Speaker of the Assembly.

Background

In the early days of Osolia's founding, it was briefly discussed that a post office should be created. Speaker tz_scion began drafting, but never finished, a Post Office Act on January 12, 2024 to bring the idea to life. However, no publicly recorded discussion came for several months, and the bill was left unfinished until Michael Webb became Acting Speaker on June 27, 2024, to fill in for Speaker Scion during a situation where he had to step away for a short term due to personal life issues.

After Webb was named Acting Speaker by Speaker Scion, he decided to check the current list of bills still to be voted on, and discovered two unfinished bills; the Post Office Act, and Constitutional Amendment 2, which later was finished and split into two amendments, the Legal Reform Amendment and the Council Reform Amendment.

Webb began discussions immediately on the Post Office Act, at first mainly with cstro, who would later become the first Postmaster. It was decided that the Post Office would become an agency rather than a formal department of the government to keep it independent. It was also debated upon how a Postmaster would be chosen, and eventually it was settled upon that the Chief would simply appoint one themselves. The amended bill also allowed for the creation of PO Boxes instead of forcing players to have a mailbox on their property if they didn't want one.

At first, an initial vote was held, but it was quickly repealed by Acting Speaker Webb to address concerns some had regarding package secrecy and security. An amendment was added to the bill that bars the Postmaster and all Post Office officials from disclosing any details about packages without express permission from either the sender or recipient of the package, allowing the Postmaster or Post Office official to be removed immediately if found to be in violation of this clause. This satisfied the bill's initial opponents, and the second vote, still held the same day on June 27, 2024, was more successful, passing unanimously (9-0) amongst those who voted. The bill became law on June 28, 2024.

Provisions

Establishment

This section formally creates the Osolian Post Office and the mailbox system. It defines mailboxes as any storage block, except for ender chests, specifically designated by the Chief or the Osolian Post Office to be the mailbox that belongs to a particular player. It also requires all citizens to have a mailbox, either on their property, or as a PO Box stored at their nearest Osolian Post Office location. It allows businesses and organizations to have a mailbox as well if they wish, but does not require them to establish one.

Additionally, it describes that the Postmaster is appointed by the Chief, that the Assembly can remove the Postmaster by a majority vote, and that postage is defined as any item(s) that a citizen wishes to send to another citizen, or business or organization.

Regulations and enforcement

This section bans the act of taking items from a mailbox with intent to deprive the intended recipient of those items, allowing criminal litigation that forces the stolen items to be returned, as well as compensation to the Osolian Post Office.

This section also bans the Postmaster and any official working for the Osolian Post Office from disclosing what what packages are being handled, who sent them, where they are being shipped to, what is contained within the package or other identifying information about a package without the express consent of either the package sender or recipient. This is punishable by being removed from their position within the Post Office.