HOUSE FILE 177

BY  WAGNER

A BILL FOR

An Act providing for the recall of elected officials of political subdivisions and providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

   Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  66A.1  Officers subject to recall.
   1.  Any elective public officer of a political subdivision in this state is subject to recall from office by the electors of the political subdivision from which the officer was elected. The eligible electors of a political subdivision may petition for the recall of the elective officer by filing a petition with the county commissioner of elections demanding the recall of the officer.
   2.  A public officer who is appointed to an elective office is subject to recall in the same manner as provided for an officer who is elected to that office.
   3.  An officer shall not be recalled for performing a duty or obligation of the office to which the officer was elected, which duty or obligation is imposed by law, nor for failure to perform any act that if performed would subject the officer to prosecution.
   4.  For purposes of this chapter,“political subdivision”means a county, township, school corporation, city, or any local board or commission whose officers are elected by the people.
   Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  66A.2  Petition for recall —— persons qualified to petition —— penalty.
   1.  Any eligible elector of a political subdivision of this state may sign a petition for recall of an officer elected from that political subdivision. However, if the political subdivision from which the officer is elected is divided into election districts, the eligible elector signing the petition must be an eligible elector of that election district from which the officer was elected.
   2.  A person signing a name other than that person’s own to a petition for recall or who knowingly signs the same petition for recall more than once or who is not an eligible elector at the time of signing a petition for recall is guilty of a serious misdemeanor.
   Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  66A.3  Petition for recall —— contents, requirements, limitations.
   1.  A petition for recall must contain the following:
   a.  The signatures of eligible electors of the political subdivision or election district affected by the recall equal to at least twenty percent of the total votes cast in the last preceding election for the office affected by the recall, but in no case shall a petition for recall contain fewer than fifty signatures. The county commissioner shall determine and certify to any interested person the number of signatures required on a petition for recall for that office.
   b.  The residence address of each person signing the petition, and the date the petition was signed by that person.
   c.  A statement, in two hundred words or less, detailing the reason for recall of the officer.
   2.
  a.  A petition for recall shall be eight and one-half by eleven inches in size and shall be in substantially the following form:
WARNING
  A person signing a name other than the person’s own name to a petition or who knowingly signs the person’s name to this petition more than once or who is not an eligible elector at the time the signature is affixed to this petition is guilty of a serious misdemeanor.
RECALL PETITION
  We, the undersigned eligible electors of (name of applicable political subdivision or election district) respectfully petition that an election be held as provided by law on the question of whether (officer’s name), holding the office of ___________, should be recalled for the following reasons: (Setting out the statement of the reason for recall in not more than two hundred words). By affixing the signature, each signer certifies the following: I have personally signed this petition; I am an eligible elector of the state of Iowa and (appropriate political subdivision or election district); and my residence address is correctly written after my name to the best of my knowledge and belief.
   b.  Numbered lines shall follow the heading. Each numbered line shall contain spaces for the signature, signer’s residence address, and the date of the signature.
   c.  Each separate page of a petition for recall shall contain the warning in paragraph “a”.
   d.  When a petition contains more than one page, the pages shall be neatly arranged and securely fastened together before filing.
   3.
  a.  A petition for recall shall not name more than one officer to be recalled.
   b.  A person shall not be recalled within the first one hundred eighty days after the person takes the oath of office or within one hundred eighty days from the date of the general, regular city, or regular school election, whichever is applicable, at which the office is to be filled by the registered voters.
   c.  A petition for recall shall not be filed against an officer for whom a recall election has been held within a period of two years during a term of office.
   Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  66A.4  Filing of petition for recall.
   1.
  a.  The petition for recall shall be filed with the county commissioner.
   b.  When filing a petition for recall, an affidavit in substantially the following form shall be attached to the petition:
  I, (name of person filing petition), being duly sworn, say that I circulated or assisted in circulating the petition to which this affidavit is attached, and I believe the signatures affixed to the petition are genuine, and are the signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be, and that the signers were aware of the contents of the petition before signing the petition.

___________________________________

 (Signed)

 Subscribed and sworn to before me by _________, on the _____day

 of ________, 20__

 ___________________________________

 (Name)

 ___________________________________

 (Official title)
   2.  After a petition for recall has been filed, it shall not be returned to the person who filed the petition, nor shall any signature or other information be added to the petition for recall. If a signature on a petition sheet is crossed out by the petitioner before the sheet is offered for filing, the elimination of the signature does not affect the validity of other signatures on the petition sheet.
   Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  66A.5  Verification of petition.
   Upon the filing of a petition for recall, the county commissioner shall verify whether the petition has been signed by the required number of eligible electors as specified in section 66A.3. If the petition for recall does not contain the required number of signatures, the county commissioner shall notify the person filing the petition that the petition is not valid.
   Sec. 6.  NEW SECTION.  66A.6  Notification to officer —— statement of justification.
   Upon the filing of the petition for recall meeting the requirements of this chapter, the county commissioner shall immediately send written notice to the officer named in the petition. The notice shall state that a petition for recall of the officer has been filed, shall include a copy of the statement of the reason for recall as printed on the petition, and shall inform the officer that the officer may have printed on the special election ballot a statement of justification in not more than two hundred words stating why the officer should not be recalled. To be printed on the ballot, the statement of justification must be submitted to the county commissioner within ten days of the date the notice is sent to the officer named in the petition for recall.
   Sec. 7.  NEW SECTION.  66A.7  Objection to the petition —— notice and hearing.
   1.  Objections to the legal sufficiency of a petition for recall may be filed in writing by any person who would have the right to vote for a candidate for the office in question. The objections must be filed with the county commissioner not later than fourteen days after the petition for recall is filed.
   2.  If objections are filed, notice shall be mailed within seventy-two hours by certified mail to the person who filed the petition. A hearing on the objections shall be held in the manner provided for objections to nomination petitions or certificates of nomination filed pursuant to chapter 43, 44, 45, or 277, whichever is applicable.
   Sec. 8.  NEW SECTION.  66A.8  Presumption of validity.
   A petition for recall filed under this chapter, and being apparently in conformity with law, shall be regarded as valid, unless objection is made in writing, and the petition shall be open to public inspection and preserved by the county commissioner for not less than six months after the special recall election is held.
   Sec. 9.  NEW SECTION.  66A.9  Recall election.
   If the officer named in the petition for recall submits a resignation in writing, it shall be accepted and become effective the day it is offered. The vacancy created by the resignation shall be filled as provided by law, except that the officer named in the petition for recall shall not be appointed to fill the vacancy. If the officer named in the petition does not resign within five days after the petition for recall is filed, a special election on the recall of the officer shall be called. Notwithstanding section 39.2, subsection 4, the recall election shall be held the first Tuesday following sixty days after the date the petition is filed. However, the special election shall not be held on the same day as a regularly scheduled election. If the first Tuesday following sixty days after the date the petition is filed is the same day as a regularly scheduled election, the special election shall be held the first Tuesday following the regularly scheduled election.
   Sec. 10.  NEW SECTION.  66A.10  Conduct of recall election.
   1.  A special election for recall of an officer shall be conducted, and the results canvassed and certified, in the same manner that a regularly scheduled election to fill that office is conducted.
   2.  The ballot submitted at a recall election shall set forth the statement contained in the petition for recall stating the reason for demanding the recall of the officer and the statement of justification submitted by the officer, if submitted in a timely manner. The question of whether the officer should be recalled shall be placed on the ballot in substantially the following form:
  ____. FOR recalling ____ who holds the office of ______.

  ____. AGAINST recalling ____ who holds the office of ______________.

   3.  Expenses of a recall election shall be paid in the same manner as the expenses of a regularly scheduled election to fill that office.
   Sec. 11.  NEW SECTION.  66A.11  Election results —— filling of vacancy.
   1.  The officer named in the petition for recall shall continue in office until the officer resigns or the results of the recall election are officially declared.
   2.  If a majority of those voting on the question vote to recall the officer, the office becomes vacant and the vacancy shall be filled as provided by chapter 69. However, in no event shall the officer recalled be appointed to fill the vacancy.
   Sec. 12.  IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT.  Section 25B.2, subsection 3, shall not apply to this Act.
EXPLANATION
   This bill allows for the recall from office of an elected official of a political subdivision by the electors of that political subdivision, or election district, if applicable. The bill provides that a petition for recall of an officer may be filed by the eligible electors of a political subdivision or election district equal in number to at least 20 percent of the total votes cast for the office in question in the last preceding election, but in no case shall the number of signatures be less than 50.
   If the petition is filed in a timely manner, is of legal sufficiency, is not objected to in writing, and if the officer named in the petition does not resign from office, a recall election shall be held on the question of whether the officer shall be recalled from office. If the officer resigns, or if a majority of the total votes cast at the recall election is in favor of the recall of the officer, the vacancy in the office shall be filled in a manner provided for that office in Code chapter 69.
   The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code section 25B.3. The bill makes inapplicable Code section 25B.2, subsection 3, which would relieve a political subdivision from complying with a state mandate if funding for the cost of the state mandate is not provided or specified. Therefore, political subdivisions are required to comply with any state mandate included in the bill.