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HB0161 • 2024

Appointment by judge for vacancies in office-amendments.

AN ACT relating to county commissioners; amending the selection requirements for district judges to fill a vacancy on a board of county commissioners, any other county elective office or a vacancy in the office of a member of the state legislature as specified; specifying duties of a county central committee; specifying applicability; and providing for an effective date.

Did Not Pass

The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.

Sponsor
Representative Jennings
Last action
2024-02-16
Official status
inactive
Effective date
3/1/2024

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Amending Vacancy Filling Requirements for County and State Positions

The bill changes how district judges fill vacancies in county commissioner positions, other county elective offices, and state legislature member positions when the regular process fails to do so.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the rules for filling a vacancy on a board of county commissioners if the remaining members cannot fill it within a set time frame.
  • Requires district judges to appoint someone from a list provided by the county central committee or, if that list is not available, someone who belongs to the same political party as the previous officeholder.
  • Specifies duties for the county central committee in providing lists of qualified candidates when filling vacancies.

Who It Names or Affects

  • District judges who will be responsible for appointing replacements for vacant positions.
  • County commissioners and members of the state legislature whose vacancies need filling.
  • The county central committee which must provide lists of qualified candidates to help fill vacancies.

Terms To Know

Vacancy
An empty position in an office or board that needs to be filled.
County Central Committee
A group responsible for providing a list of qualified candidates when filling vacancies.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill did not pass and was not considered for introduction, so it has no legal effect.
  • It specifies an effective date that will not be reached since the bill did not pass.

Bill History

  1. 2024-02-16 House

    H Did not Consider for Introduction

  2. 2024-02-12 House

    H Received for Introduction

  3. 2024-02-12 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
24LSO-0386
2024
STATE OF WYOMING
24LSO-0386
Numbered
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0161

Appointment by judge for vacancies in office-amendments.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Jennings, Angelos, Bear, Haroldson, Heiner, Knapp, Neiman, Pendergraft, Penn, Slagle, Smith, Styvar, Trujillo and Winter and Senator(s) Hicks and Ide

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to county commissioners; amending the selection requirements for district judges to fill a vacancy on a board of county commissioners, any other county elective office or a vacancy in the office of a member of the state legislature as specified; specifying duties of a county central committee; specifying applicability; and providing for an effective date.

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

Section 1.

W.S. 18
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3
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524(b)(i) and 22
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18
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111(a)(intro) and (vi) are amended to read:

18
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3
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524.

Appointments to fill vacancies; term.

(b)

If the remaining members of the board of county commissioners fail to fill any vacancy in a board of county commissioners within the time specified in this section, any qualified elector of the county may file a petition with the clerk of the district court of the county in which the vacancy occurred requesting the judge of the district court to fill the vacancy:

(i)

Within twenty (20) days after the petition is filed the judge shall fill the vacancy by appointing
one (1) of the three (3) qualified persons whose names were submitted by the county central committee to the board of county commissioners under subsection (a) of this section, except as otherwise provided in this paragraph. If the county central committee fails to select and transmit the list of three (3) names to the board of county commissioners within the time specified in this section and before the time the petition is filed with the judge, the judge shall fill the vacancy by appointing
a qualified elector of the county belonging to the same political party the incumbent commissioner represented at the time of his election or appointment. If the incumbent commissioner did not represent any political party at the time of his election or appointment the judge may appoint any qualified person to fill the vacancy.
The board of county commissioners shall transmit the list of the three (3) qualified persons as submitted by the county central committee, if applicable, to the judge upon request for purposes of filling a vacancy pursuant to this subsection.

22
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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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5
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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
shall
apply:

(vi)

If the county commissioners fail to fill any vacancy as required in this section within the time specified, any person residing in the county or legislative district who is qualified to hold the office may file a petition with the clerk of the district court of the county or legislative district in which the vacancy occurred requesting the judge of the district court to fill the vacancy.

Within thirty (30) days after the petition is filed the judge shall fill the vacancy by appointing
one (1) of the three (3) qualified persons whose names were submitted by the county central committee to the board of county commissioners under paragraphs (a)(ii) or (iii) of this section, except as otherwise provided in this paragraph. If the county central committee fails to select and transmit the list of three (3) names to the board of county commissioners within the time specified in this section and before the time the petition is filed with the judge, the judge shall fill the vacancy by appointing
a person residing in the county or legislative district belonging to the same political party as the incumbent represented at the time of his election under W.S. 22
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6
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120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office, who is qualified to hold the office. If the incumbent did not represent any political party at the time of his election or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office, the judge may appoint any person residing in the county or legislative district who is qualified to hold the office to fill the vacancy.
The board of county commissioners shall transmit the list of the three (3) qualified persons as submitted by the county central committee, if applicable, to the judge upon request for purposes of filling a vacancy pursuant to this subsection.

Section 2.

This act shall apply to all vacancies of county commissioners, members of the state legislature and any county elective offices on or after the effective date of this act.

Section 3
.

This act is effective July 1, 2024
.

(END)

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HB0161