§ 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 governor,
member of the state legislature, 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 hold the
office. 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 hold the office. The governor shall also
cause to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in
the state notice of the vacancy in office. Persons qualified to
hold the office 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 persons qualified to hold the
office, 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 hold the office. 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 person qualified
to hold the office 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 to hold the office 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 hold the office to fill the vacancy. Only
those persons serving as committeemen and committeewomen at
least thirty (30) days prior to the vacancy, or if the vacancy
occurs within thirty (30) days after the first Monday in January
in odd-numbered years, those precinct committeemen and
committeewomen elected at the immediate past primary election
and those selected by appointment prior to December 2 of the
year in which the election occurred for vacant positions, 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 person qualified to hold the office 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 appointing one (1)
person qualified to hold the office from among 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 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
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.
22-6-120(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.
(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 person
qualified to hold the office 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 person
qualified to hold the office 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:
(i) 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;
(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.