§ 20-25-3-4 — School board; election of members; procedures; establishment of election districts; term of office; vacancies

(a) The board consists of seven (7) members.
A member:
(1) must be elected in general elections held in the county as
specified in this section; and
(2) serves a four (4) year term.
(b) Five (5) members shall be elected from the school board districts
in which the members reside, and two (2) members must be elected at
large.
(c) If a candidate runs for one (1) of the district positions on the
board, only eligible voters residing in the candidate's district may vote
for that candidate. If a person is a candidate for one (1) of the at-large
positions, eligible voters from all the districts may vote for that
candidate.
(d) If a candidate files to run for a position on the board, the
candidate must specify whether the candidate is running for a district
or an at-large position.
(e) A candidate who runs for a district or an at-large position wins
if the candidate receives the greatest number of votes of all the
candidates for the position.
(f) Districts shall be established within the school city by the board
of school commissioners. The districts must be drawn on the basis of
precinct lines, and as nearly as practicable, of equal population with the
population of the largest district not to exceed the population of the
smallest district by more than five percent (5%). District lines must not
cross precinct lines. The board of school commissioners shall establish:
(1) balloting procedures for the election under IC 3; and
(2) other procedures required to implement this section.
(g) A member of the board serves under section 3 of this chapter.
(h) A vacancy in the board shall be filled temporarily under IC 20-23-4-30 as soon as practicable after the vacancy occurs. The
member chosen by the board to fill a vacancy holds office until the
member's successor is elected and qualified. The successor shall be
elected at the next regular school board election occurring after the date
on which the vacancy occurs. The successor fills the vacancy for the
remainder of the term.
(i) An individual elected to serve on the board begins the
individual's term on the date set in the school corporation's organization
plan. The date set in the organization plan for an elected member of the
board to take office may not be more than fourteen (14) months after
the date of the member's election. If the school corporation's
organization plan does not set a date for a member of the board to take
office, the member takes office January 1 immediately following the
individual's election.
(j) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, each voter must cast a
vote for a school board candidate or school board candidates by voting
system or paper ballot. However, the same method used to cast votes
for all other offices for which candidates have qualified to be on the
election ballot must be used for the board offices.
[Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondary Education
Recodification Citation: 20-3-11-3.1.]

Legislative History

As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.9. Amended by P.L.119-2005, SEC.32; P.L.1-2006, SEC.322; P.L.179-2011, SEC.32; P.L.219-2013, SEC.90; P.L.169-2022, SEC.9; P.L.195-2025, SEC.38.