Requiring the county election officer to call a special election to fill a vacancy within the governing body of a municipality if the position remains vacant after 60 days.

Session of 2026
HOUSE BILL No. 2492
By Committee on Elections
Requested by Representative Wasinger
1-21
AN ACT concerning municipalities; relating to vacancies in municipal
governing bodies; requiring a special election within 60 days of the
vacancy if the vacant position has not been filled; amending K.S.A. 12-
104a and repealing the existing section.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. K.S.A. 12-104a is hereby amended to read as follows: 12-
104a. (a) The purpose of this section is to provide an orderly and prompt
means of filling vacancies in the governing body of a municipality.
Prolonged vacancies in the governing body of a municipality deprive
citizens of their right to representation and act as impediments to the
orderly function of government of municipalities.
(b) As used in this section, the following terms are defined as
follows:
(1) "Governing body" shall include the mayor and members of the
council, the mayor and commissioners or the chairperson and members of
the board of supervisors, depending on the form of government of the city
or the consolidated city and county.
(2) "Municipality" means any city or any consolidated city and
county.
(c) Except as provided in subsection (d), the governing body of any
municipality where once a vacancy exists shall notify the county election
officer of such vacancy. The governing body shall appoint, by a majority
vote of the remaining members, a person to fill the vacancy within 60 days
of the vacancy. If the appointment is not made within the 60-day time
frame, the governing body shall pass a resolution calling for county
election officer shall call a special election to fill such vacancy to be held
within 45 days of the passage of such resolution. Candidates for the vacant
office shall file for such office as provided in K.S.A. 25-2110a, and
amendments thereto. The special election shall be conducted by the county
election officer. The candidate receiving the highest number of votes for
the vacant position shall assume such office upon certification of the
election results.
(d) The provisions of subsection (c) shall not apply to any
municipality which has a procedure for filling vacancies in its governing
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
HB 2492 2
body and which has filled such vacancies within 60 days of the vacancy.
Sec. 2. K.S.A. 12-104a is hereby repealed.
Sec. 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.
1
2
3
4