Vacancies in public office-amendments.

25LSO-0536
2025
STATE OF WYOMING
25LSO-0536
ENGROSSED
3.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0176

Vacancies in public office-amendments.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Bratten, Angelos, Kelly, Locke, Neiman, Pendergraft and Webb and Senator(s) Biteman

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to elections; amending the process by which vacancies in elected offices are filled; providing for the filling of vacancies when vacancies are not filled; establishing a presumption concerning qualifications to hold office; making conforming amendments; repealing conflicting provisions; 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(a) by creating a new paragraph (iii) and 22
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18
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111(a) by creating a new paragraph (vii) and (c)(ii) are amended to read:

18
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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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6
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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 by appointing one (1) of the persons whose names are submitted by the county central committee:

(iii)

If a vacancy is not otherwise filled as provided in this subsection, the following shall apply:

(A)

If the incumbent who has vacated an office represented a political party and if the county commissioners fail to fill a vacancy within the time specified in this subsection and do not fill the vacancy in accordance with paragraph (i) of this subsection, the county central committee shall fill the vacancy by temporary appointment to the office from the three (3) names submitted to the board of county commissioners under this subsection;

(B)

If the incumbent who has vacated an office did not represent a political party at the time of the election under W.S. 22
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6
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120(a)(vii) and if the county commissioners do not fill the vacancy by appointing a person within the time specified in this subsection, a special election shall be held in accordance with W.S. 22
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18
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109.

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 apply:

(vii)

If a vacancy is not filled in accordance with this subsection, the following shall apply:

(A)

Subject to subparagraph (C) of this paragraph, for a vacancy to be filled under paragraph (i) or (iii) of this subsection that is not filled within the time specified in paragraph (i) or subparagraphs (iii)(A) and (B) of this subsection, the state central committee shall fill the vacancy by temporary appointment to the office from the three (3) names submitted under paragraph (i) or subparagraphs (iii)(A) and (B) of this subsection;

(B)

Subject to subparagraph (C) of this paragraph, for a vacancy to be filled under paragraph (ii) of this subsection that is not filled within the time specified in paragraph (ii) of this subsection, the county central committee shall fill the vacancy by temporary appointment to the office from the three (3) names submitted under paragraph (ii) of this subsection;

(C)

If the incumbent who has vacated an office did not represent a political party at the time of election under W.S. 22
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6
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120(a)(vii) and if the governor or county commissioners do not fill the vacancy by appointing a person within the time specified in this subsection, a special election shall be held in accordance with W.S. 22
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18
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109.

(c)

For purposes of this section:

(ii)

"Qualified to hold the office" means a person meets all applicable qualifications to be elected to a public office which are set forth in the United States and Wyoming constitutions and Wyoming law, as applicable, on the date of the person's appointment to the public office.
For purposes of this paragraph, a person who meets all applicable qualifications specified in this paragraph shall have a non
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rebuttable presumption to be qualified to hold the office.

Section 2.

W.S. 18
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3
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524(b) and 22
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18
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111(a)(vi) are repealed.

Section 3
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This act is effective July 1, 2025
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(END)

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HB0176