Assigned to JUD FOR
COMMITTEE
Assigned to JUD FOR
COMMITTEE
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Third Legislature, Second Regular Session
REVISED
legislative vacancy; appointment; time frame
Purpose
Modifies the timeframe by which vacancies in the Legislature are filled.
Background
Statute outlines the procedure for filling a vacancy in the Legislature. If a vacancy occurs in a district where the party of the person who vacated the seat has more than 30 elected precinct committeemen (committeemen), the procedure is as follows: 1) the Secretary of State (SOS) must notify the appropriate state party chairman of the vacancy; 2) the state party chairman must give notice to the committeemen of a meeting to fill the vacancy; 3) the committeemen must nominate three qualified electors who meet certain qualifications to fill the vacancy within 21 days after notification by the SOS if the Legislature is not in session, or within 5 days if the Legislature is in session; and 4) the state party chairman must forward the names of the nominees to the county Board of Supervisors (BOS), who must then appoint one nominee (A.R.S. § 41-1202).
If a vacancy occurs in a district where the party of the person who vacated the seat has less than 30 committeemen, the procedure is as follows: 1) the BOS must appoint within three business days a citizens panel to submit to the board within seven business days the names of three qualified electors for nomination; and 2) the BOS must appoint one of the submitted nominees to fill the vacancy within five business days. If the person elected or appointed to the office immediately before the vacancy was a registered independent, the nominees for the vacancy must be registered as independents (A.R.S. § 41-1202).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Establishes the following requirements for a legislative vacancy in a district formerly represented by a party with more than 30 committeemen:
a) the SOS must notify the appropriate state party chairman immediately of the vacancy;
b) the state party chairman must immediately forward the names of nominees for the vacancy;
c) the state party chairman must notify the BOS immediately if the committeemen fail to fill the vacancy within the specified timeframe.
2. Establishes the following requirements for a legislative vacancy in a district formerly represented by a party with less than 30 committeemen:
a) the SOS must notify the BOS immediately of the vacancy;
b) the BOS must appoint a citizens panel within seven, instead of three business days, of receipt of notification by the SOS; and
c) the citizens panel must submit names to the BOS within 21 days if the Legislature is not in session, or 5 days if the Legislature is in session.
3. Removes the five-day deadline for the BOS to appoint a person from the list of names submitted by the citizen's panel to fill the vacancy.
4. Makes technical and conforming changes.
5. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Revision
· Corrected the number of days by which a citizens panel must be appointed.
House Action
GOV 1/25/18 DP 5-2-0-1
3rd Read 2/21/18 48-12-0
Prepared by Senate Research
March 13, 2018
JA/VR/lat