Recall of elected municipal officials.

2018
STATE OF WYOMING
18LSO-0093
Numbered
1.3

HOUSE BILL

NO.

HB0160

Recall of elected municipal officials.

Sponsored by:
Representative(s) Loucks, Byrd, Gray, Hunt, Obermueller and Sweeney and Senator(s) Perkins

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to cities and towns; establishing a recall mechanism for any elected official in any form of municipal government; providing for a replacement procedure; repealing an existing recall mechanism; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S.
15
‑
11
‑
401
is created
to read
:

ARTICLE 4
RECALL AND REPLACEMENT OF ELECTED OFFICIALS

15
‑
11
‑
401
.

Recall of officers.

(a)

Any officer

elected under this title
may be removed at any time by the qualified electors in the following manner:

(i)

A
petition signed by at least
twenty percent (20%)
of all the registered electors and demanding an election of a successor of the person sought to be removed shall be filed with the city clerk. The petition shall contain a general statement of the grounds for removal. The signatures to the petition need not all be appended to one (1) paper, but each signer shall
include the signer's

place
of
residence, giving the street and num
ber. One (1) of the signers of each paper shall make oath before a competent officer that the statements therein made are true as
the signer

believes, and that each signature is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be
;

(ii)

Within ten (10) days from the date of filing the petition the clerk shall determine whether the petition is signed by the requisite number of qualified
electors. If necessary, the
governing body

shall allow
the clerk

extra help for that purpose. The clerk shall attach to the petition
a

certificate, showing the result of
the clerk's

examination. If the petition is insufficient, it shall be returned to the person who filed it, without prejudice to the filing of a new petition to the same effect. If the petition is sufficient, the clerk shall submit it to the governing body without delay
;

(iii)

The governing body shall then fix a date for holding
a s
pecial r
emoval
election, not less than thirty (30) days
nor
more than forty (40) days from the date of the clerk's certificate of sufficiency. The
governing body

shall publish notice and arrange for holding the election, which shall be conducted in the same manner as other city elections.

(b)

Any person sought to be removed

according to subsection (a) of this section
may be a candidate to succeed himself, and unless
that person

requests otherwise in writing at least ten (10) days
before

the date of the special primary election, the clerk shall place
that
person's

name on the official ballot without nomination. On the second Tuesday preceding the date fixed for the special

removal
election, a special primary election for the
selection

of

other
candidates shall be held. The special primary election and nomination
shall be conducted in the same manner as other municipal elections, except t
he candidate filing fee and application shall be filed with the city clerk at least ten (10) days before the date of the special primary election, and the certification of candidates shall be at least five (5) days before the date of the special primary election
.
If the person sought to be removed is a candidate, one (1) opposing candidate shall be
selected

at the special primary election. The special primary election shall be held if there are more than two (2) nominees, one (1) of whom may be

the
incumbent. If there are no candidates nominated against the officer sought to be removed, no special election
shall

be held and the incumbent shall continue in office.

(c)

In any
special

removal election the candidate receiving the highest number of votes is elected. The incumbent shall be removed from office upon the
qualification of
the incumbent's

successor, who shall hold office during the unexpired portion of the term for which
the

incumbent
was elected. If the person who receives the highest number of votes fails to qualify within ten (10) days after receiving notification of election
,
the office is vacant.

(d)

This method of removal is in addition to any other methods provided by law.

Section 2
.

W.S. 15
‑
4
‑
110 is repealed.

Section
3
.

This act is effective July 1, 201
8
.

(END)

1
HB0160