Procedure for Filling Vacancy on Board of Supervisors

Vacancies shall be filled by the officer or board named, and in the manner, and under the conditions, following:

4. Board of supervisors. In the membership of the board of supervisors, by the treasurer, auditor, and recorder, or as provided in section 69.14A. If any of these offices have been abolished through consolidation, the county attorney shall serve on this committee.

69.14A Filling vacancy of elected county officer.

1. A vacancy on the board of supervisors shall be filled by one of the two following procedures:

a. By appointment by the committee of county officers designated to fill the vacancy in section 69.8. The appointment shall be for the period until the next pending election as defined in section 69.12, and shall be made within forty days after the vacancy occurs. If the committee of county officers designated to fill the vacancy chooses to proceed under this paragraph, the committee shall publish notice in the manner prescribed by section 331.305 stating that the committee intends to fill the vacancy by appointment but that the electors of the district or county, as the case may be, have the right to file a petition requiring that the vacancy be filled by special election. The committee may publish notice in advance if an elected official submits a resignation to take effect at a future date. The committee may make an appointment to fill the vacancy after the notice is published or after the vacancy occurs, whichever is later. A person appointed to an office under this subsection shall have actually resided in the county which the appointee represents sixty days prior to appointment.

However, if within fourteen days after publication of the notice or within fourteen days after the appointment is made, a petition is filed with the county auditor requesting a special election to fill the vacancy, the appointment is temporary and a special election shall be called as provided in paragraph "b". The petition shall meet the requirements of section 331.306.

b. By special election held to fill the office for the remaining balance of the unexpired term. The committee of county officers designated to fill the vacancy in section 69.8 may, on its own motion, or shall, upon receipt of a petition as provided in paragraph "a", call for a special election to fill the vacancy in lieu of appointment. The committee shall order the special election at the earliest practicable date, but giving at least thirty-two days' notice of the election. A special election called under this section shall be held on a Tuesday and shall not be held on the same day as a school election within the county.

However, if a vacancy on the board of supervisors occurs after the date of the primary election and more than seventy-three days before the general election, a special election to fill the vacancy shall not be called by the committee or by petition. If the term of office in which the vacancy exists will expire more than seventy days after the general election, the office shall be listed on the ballot, as "For Board of Supervisors, To Fill Vacancy". The person elected at the general election shall assume office as soon as a certificate of election is issued and the person has qualified by taking the oath of office. The person shall serve the balance of the unexpired term.

If the term of office in which the vacancy exists will expire within seventy days after the general election, the person elected to the succeeding term shall also serve the balance of the unexpired term. The person elected at the general election shall assume office as soon as a certificate of election is issued and the person has qualified by taking the oath of office.

69.12 Officers elected to fill vacancies—tenure.

When a vacancy occurs in any nonpartisan elective office of a political subdivision of this state, and the statutes governing the office in which the vacancy occurs require that it be filled by election or are silent as to the method of filling the vacancy, it shall be filled pursuant to this section. As used in this section, "pending election" means any election at which there will be on the ballot either the office in which the vacancy exists, or any other office to be filled or any public question to be decided by the voters of the same political subdivision in which the vacancy exists.

1. If the unexpired term in which the vacancy occurs has more than seventy days to run after the date of the next pending election, the vacancy shall be filled in accordance with this subsection. The fact that absentee ballots were distributed or voted before the vacancy occurred or was declared shall not invalidate the election.

a. A vacancy shall be filled at the next pending election if it occurs:

(1) Seventy-four or more days prior to the election, if it is a general or primary election.

(2) Fifty-two or more days prior to the election if it is a regularly scheduled or special city election.

(3) Forty-five or more days prior to the election, if it is a regularly scheduled school election.

(4) Forty or more days prior to the election, if it is a special election.

b. Nomination papers on behalf of candidates for a vacant office to be filled pursuant to paragraph "a" of this subsection shall be filed, in the form and manner prescribed by applicable law, by five o'clock p.m. on:

(1) The final filing date for candidates filing with the state commissioner or commissioner, as the case may be, for a general or primary election.

(2) The forty-seventh day prior to a regularly scheduled or special city election.

(3) The fortieth day prior to a regularly scheduled school election.

(4) The twenty-fifth day prior to a special election.

c. A vacancy which occurs at a time when paragraph "a" of this subsection does not permit it to be filled at the next pending election shall be filled by appointment as provided by law until the succeeding pending election.

2. When the unexpired term of office in which the vacancy occurs will expire within seventy days after the date of the next pending election, or after the date of a preceding election in which that office was on the ballot, the person elected to the office for the succeeding term shall also be deemed elected to fill the remainder of the unexpired term. If the vacancy is on a multimember body to which more than one nonincumbent is elected for the succeeding term, the nonincumbent who received the most votes shall be deemed elected to fill the remainder of the unexpired term. A person so elected to fill an unexpired term shall qualify within the time required by sections 63.3 and 63.8. Unless other requirements are imposed by law, qualification for the unexpired term shall also constitute qualification for the full term to which the person was elected.

69.16A Gender balance.

All appointive boards, commissions, committees and councils of the state established by the Code if not otherwise provided by law shall be gender balanced. No person shall be appointed or reappointed to any board, commission, committee, or council established by the Code if that appointment or reappointment would cause the number of members of the board, commission, committee, or council of one gender to be greater than one-half the membership of the board, commission, committee, or council plus one if the board, commission, committee, or council is composed of an odd number of members. If the board, commission, committee, or council is composed of an even number of members, not more than one-half of the membership shall be of one gender. If there are multiple appointing authorities for a board, commission, committee, or council, they shall consult each other to avoid a violation of this section. This section shall not prohibit an individual from completing a term being served on June 30, 1987.

331.306 Petitions of eligible electors.

A petition shall be examined before it is accepted for filing. If it appears valid on its face it shall be accepted for filing. If it lacks the required number of signatures it shall be returned to the petitioners.
Petitions which have been accepted for filing are valid unless written objections are filed. Objections must be filed with the county auditor within five working days after the petition was filed. The objection process in section 44.7 shall be followed for objections filed pursuant to this section.

If a petition of the voters is authorized by this chapter, the petition is valid if signed by eligible electors of the county equal in number to at least ten percent of the votes cast in the county for the office of president of the United States or governor at the preceding general election, unless otherwise provided by state law. The petition shall include the signatures of the petitioners, a statement of their place of residence, and the date on which they signed the petition.

Petitions authorized by this chapter shall be filed with the board of supervisors not later than eighty-two days before the date of the general election if the question is to be voted upon at the general election. If the petition is found to be valid, the board of supervisors shall, not later than sixty-nine days before the general election, notify the county commissioner of elections to submit the question to the registered voters at the general election.