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20LSO-0377
2020
STATE OF WYOMING
20LSO-0377
Numbered
2.0
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0248
Vacancies in office-amendments.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Zwonitzer
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to vacancies in office; amending authority and responsibilities for filling vacancies in statewide, legislative and other elective offices; providing for management council submission of qualified nominees for specified vacancies; providing for specified members of a legislative delegation to submit nominees for a legislative vacancy in their delegation; providing for boards of county commissioners to fill vacancies in other elective offices; making conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1
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W.S. 9
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802(e), 18
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524(a)(intro), 22
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18
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111(a)(i), (ii), (iii)(A) through (C) and 28
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106 are amended to read:
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802.
Election; term; qualifications; full
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time; private practice prohibited; exception; salary; vacancies.
(e)
A vacancy in the office of district attorney shall be filled by the board or boards of county commissioners under the procedure for filling vacancies in the office of a member of the state legislature or state senator established by W.S.
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18
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111
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111(a)(iii)(C)
. Vacancies shall be filled until the next general election and the appointee shall be qualified pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
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3
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524.
Appointments to fill vacancies; term.
(a)
Within twenty (20) days after the office of any county commissioner becomes vacant the remaining members of the board shall declare a vacancy to exist and
immediately give notice of the vacancy in writing to the chairman of the county central committee of the political party which the member whose office is vacant represented at the time of his election under W.S. 22
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120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office. The chairman of the county central committee shall within twenty (20) days after receipt of the notice call a meeting of the county central committee. At the meeting the committee shall select three (3) persons qualified to fill the vacancy and transmit the names to the board of county commissioners. The board of county commissioners
shall fill the vacancy within twenty (20) days after
receiving the list from the county central committee
declaring the vacancy
by appointing one (1)
of the persons whose names are submitted by the county central committee
qualified person who is of the same political party the incumbent commissioner represented at the time of his election or appointment
:
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18
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111.
Vacancies in other offices; temporary appointments.
(a)
Any vacancy in any other elective office in the state except representative in congress or the board of trustees of a school or community college district, shall be filled by the governing body, or as otherwise provided in this section, by appointment of a temporary successor. The person appointed shall serve until a successor for the remainder of the unexpired term is elected at the next general election and takes office on the first Monday of the following January. Provided, if a vacancy in a four (4) year term of office occurs in the term's second or subsequent years after the first day for filing an application for nomination pursuant to W.S. 22
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209, no election to fill the vacancy shall be held and the temporary successor appointed shall serve the remainder of the unexpired term. The following apply:
(i)
If a vacancy occurs in the office of United States senator or in any state office other than the governor, member of the state legislature, the office of justice of the supreme court and the office of district court judge, the governor shall immediately notify in writing the chairman of the
state central committee of the political party which the last incumbent represented at the time of his election under W.S. 22
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120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office
management council of the legislature
. The chairman
of the management council
shall call a
public
meeting of the
state central committee
management council
to be held not later than fifteen (15) days after
he receives notice of the vacancy
the notice of vacancy is received
. At the meeting the
state central committee
management council
shall select and transmit to the governor the names of three (3) persons
of the political party which the incumbent vacating the office represented at the time of election or appointment who are
qualified to hold the office.
If the incumbent vacating the office was not a member of a political party at the time of election or appointment the management council shall select and transmit to the governor the names of three (3) people qualified to hold the office.
Within five (5) days after receiving these three (3) names, the governor shall fill the vacancy by temporary appointment of one (1) of the three (3)
qualified people nominated by the management council
to hold the office
;
. If the incumbent who has vacated office did not represent a political party at the time of his election, or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office, the governor shall notify in writing the chairman of all state central committees of parties registered with the secretary of state. The state central committees shall submit to the governor, within fifteen (15) days after notice of the vacancy, the name of one (1) person qualified to hold the office. The governor shall also cause to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the state notice of the vacancy in office. Persons qualified to hold the office who do not belong to a party may, within fifteen (15) days after publication of the vacancy in office, submit a petition signed by one hundred (100) registered voters, seeking consideration for appointment to the office. Within five (5) days after receiving the names of persons qualified to hold the office, the governor shall fill the vacancy by temporary appointment to the office, from the names submitted or from those petitioning for appointment;
(ii)
If a vacancy occurs in a county elective office, except as provided in W.S. 18
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524, the board of county commissioners of the county in which the vacancy occurs shall
,
immediately notify in writing the chairman of the county central committee of the political party which the last incumbent represented at the time of his election under W.S. 22
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120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office. The chairman shall call a meeting of the county central committee to be held
not later than fifteen (15) days after
he
the board
receives notice of the vacancy
,
. At the meeting the county central committee shall select and transmit to the board of county commissioners the names of three (3) persons qualified to hold the office. Within five (5) days after receiving these three (3) names, the board of county commissioners shall
give public notice and call a public meeting to
fill the vacancy by appointment of one (1)
of the three (3)
person qualified
to hold the office
who is a member of the political party which the vacating incumbent represented at the time of his election or appointment
. If the incumbent who has vacated office
did not represent a political party at the time of his election
was not a member of a political party when elected
, or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office, the county commissioners shall publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, notice that within fifteen (15) days after publication any person qualified to hold the office may make application directly to the
board of
county commissioners for appointment to fill the vacancy. Within twenty (20) days after the publication of the vacancy in office the
board of
county commissioners shall fill the vacancy by appointment of one (1) person qualified to hold the office from those submitting applications;
(iii)
If a vacancy occurs in the office of a member of the state legislature:
(A)
For vacancies other than resignations, the board of county commissioners of the county or counties in which the vacancy occurs shall immediately notify in writing the
chairman of the state central committee of the political party
other incumbent members of the legislative delegation from the same legislative chamber and political party representing the county or counties
which the
former
vacating
incumbent represented at the time of his election under W.S. 22
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120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office. For resignations, the governor shall notify
, in addition to the other legislative members specified in this subparagraph,
the
appropriate state central committee or the
appropriate board
or boards
of county commissioners in accordance with W.S. 28
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106. For all vacancies in which the incumbent represented a political party at the time of his election or appointment to the
vacated
office, the
state central committee of the political party of the former incumbent shall notify the precinct committeemen and committeewomen for that party for each precinct within the legislative district which is vacant and arrange a meeting of those precinct committeemen and committeewomen at which they will select a list of three (3) persons qualified to hold the office to fill the vacancy. Only those persons serving as committeemen and committeewomen at least thirty (30) days prior to the vacancy, or if the vacancy occurs within thirty (30) days after the first Monday in January in odd
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numbered years, those precinct committeemen and committeewomen elected at the immediate past primary election and those selected by appointment prior to December 2 of the year in which the election occurred for vacant positions, shall be authorized to vote under this subparagraph. The meeting shall be held not later than fifteen (15) days after the state central committee is notified of the vacancy. The state central committee of each political party shall establish procedures for conducting the vote required under this subparagraph and may delegate the authority to call the meeting required under this subparagraph
remaining incumbent members of the same political party and chamber of the legislative delegation described in this subparagraph shall give public notice and arrange and conduct a public meeting not later than fifteen (15) days after being notified of the vacancy. The members shall create a list of three (3) people of the same political party as the vacating incumbent qualified to hold the office. If there are no other members of the same political party and legislative chamber in the legislative delegation of the vacating incumbent the vacancy shall be filled as outlined in subparagraph (C) of this paragraph
;
(B)
The
state central committee of the political party of the former
incumbent
members described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph
shall submit the list selected under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph to the board of county commissioners for each county in which the legislative district
of the vacating incumbent
is located. Within five (5) days after receiving the list of three (3) names, the board of county commissioners shall fill the vacancy by appointment of one (1) of the three (3) to hold the office;
(C)
If
For vacancies where
the incumbent who has vacated office did not represent a political party at the time of his election under W.S. 22
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120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office,
has no other members of the same political party and legislative chamber in his legislative delegation or vacated the office of district attorney
the county commissioners shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of this subparagraph. The county commissioners shall publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, notice that within fifteen (15) days after publication, any person qualified to hold the office may make application directly to the county commissioners for appointment to fill the vacancy. Within twenty (20) days after publication of the notice of the vacancy in office, the county commissioners shall fill the vacancy by appointing one (1) person qualified to hold the office from among those submitting applications
. If the incumbent represented a political party at the time of his election or appointment then the person appointed to fill the vacancy shall be from the same political party as the vacating incumbent
;
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106.
Resignation of office.
Resignation of the office of a member of the senate or house of representatives shall be made to the governor, who shall immediately
notify the state central committee of the party which the member represented at the time of his election under W.S. 22
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120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office, of the resignation
provide notice as specified in W.S. 22
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111(a)(iii)(A).
If the resigning member did not represent a political party at the time of his election, or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office, the governor shall notify the appropriate boards of county commissioners who shall proceed in accordance with W.S. 22
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111(a)(iii)(C). For purposes of this section a person shall be considered to "represent" a political party if he was a nominee of that political party when elected to office or when appointed to fill a vacancy in office.
Section 2.
W.S. 18
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524(a)(i) is repealed.
Section 3
.
This act is effective July 1, 2020
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(END)
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HB0248