2012 Wyoming Statutes
TITLE 22 - ELECTIONS
CHAPTER 18 - VACANCIES
22-18-111. 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. 22-5-209, 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 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. 22-6-120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office. The chairman shall call a meeting of the state central committee to be held not later than fifteen (15) days after he receives notice of the vacancy. At the meeting the state central committee shall select and transmit to the governor the names of three (3) persons qualified to fill the vacancy. 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) 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 fill the vacancy. The governor shall also cause to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the state notice of the vacancy in office. Qualified persons 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 qualified persons, 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. 18-3-524, 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. 22-6-120(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 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 fill the vacancy. Within five (5) days after receiving these 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. 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 county commissioners shall publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, notice that within fifteen (15) days after publication any qualified person may make application directly to the county commissioners for appointment to fill the vacancy. Within twenty (20) days after the publication of the vacancy in office the county commissioners shall fill the vacancy by appointment of one (1) person qualified 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 which the former incumbent represented at the time of his election under W.S. 22-6-120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office. For resignations, the governor shall notify the appropriate state central committee or the appropriate board of county commissioners in accordance with W.S. 28-1-106. For all vacancies in which the incumbent represented a political party at the time of his election or appointment to the 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 fill the vacancy. Only those persons serving as committeemen and committeewomen at least thirty (30) days prior to the vacancy 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;

(B) The state central committee of the political party of the former incumbent 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 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 the incumbent who has vacated office did not represent a political party at the time of his election under W.S. 22-6-120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office, 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 qualified person 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 appointment of one (1) person qualified from those submitting applications;

(D) If the legislative district is in more than one (1) county, the vacancy shall be filled by the combined vote of the boards of county commissioners for those counties. The vote of each county commissioner in attendance shall be weighted so that the total vote of the commissioners from each county shall be in proportion to the population of the legislative district within that county. For vacancies created other than by resignation, if the legislative district is in more than one (1) county, the determination of the vacancy shall be made in accordance with this subparagraph.

(iv) A vacancy in the office of any hospital district trustee or in any other special district office shall be filled by temporary appointment by the governing body of the hospital or special district, both subject to chapter 29 of this title;

(v) A vacancy in a municipal office shall be filled as provided by W.S. 15-1-107;

(vi) If the county commissioners fail to fill any vacancy as required in this section within the time specified, 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. Within thirty (30) days after the petition is filed the judge shall fill the vacancy by appointing a qualified elector of the county belonging to the same political party as the incumbent represented at the time of his election under W.S. 22-6-120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to 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 qualified elector to fill the vacancy.

(b) The trustees of a school or community college district shall fill a vacancy in office by temporary appointment in a manner provided by law. If the trustees fail to appoint a qualified person to fill a vacancy within thirty (30) days from the date the vacancy occurs, or if, for any reason, the entire membership of the board of trustees of a school or community college district is depleted, the board of county commissioners of the county or counties involved, within ten (10) days of either occurrence, shall appoint a qualified person to fill each vacancy until the next election at which time an election shall be held to fill the unexpired term, and each appointee shall serve until his successor is elected and qualified. Each appointee shall be a resident of the trustee residence area, or election subdistrict, if any, previously represented.

(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.