39.22 - TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
39.22 TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
The offices of township trustee and township clerk shall be filled
by appointment or election as follows:
1. By appointment.
a. The county board of supervisors may pass a resolution in
favor of filling the offices of trustee and clerk within a township
by appointment by the board, and may direct the county commissioner
of elections to submit the question to the registered voters of the
township at the next general election. In a township which does not
include a city, the voters of the entire township are eligible to
vote on the question. In a township which includes a city, only
those voters who reside outside the corporate limits of a city are
eligible to vote on the question. The resolution shall apply to all
townships which have not approved a proposition to fill township
offices by appointment. If the proposition to fill the township
offices by appointment is approved by a majority of those voting on
the question, the board shall fill the offices by appointment as the
terms of office of the incumbent township officers expire.
b. The election of the trustees and clerk of a township may
be restored after approval of the appointment process under this
subsection by a resolution of the board of supervisors submitting the
question to the registered voters who are eligible to vote for
township officers of the township at the next general election. If
the proposition to restore the election process is approved by a
majority of those voting on the question, the election of the
township officers shall commence with the next general election. A
resolution submitting the question of restoring the election of
township officers at the next general election shall be adopted by
the board of supervisors upon receipt of a petition signed by
eligible electors residing in the township equal in number to at
least ten percent of the registered voters of a township. The
initial terms of the trustees shall be determined by lot, one for two
years, and two for four years. However, if a proposition to change
the method of selecting township officers is adopted by the
electorate, a resolution to change the method shall not be submitted
to the electorate for four years.
2. By election. If the county board of supervisors does not
have the power provided under subsection 1 to fill the offices of
trustee and clerk within a township by appointment, then the offices
of township trustee and township clerk shall be filled by election on
a nonpartisan basis. Township trustees and the township clerk, in
townships which do not include a city, shall be elected by the voters
of the entire township. In townships which include a city, the
officers shall be elected by the voters of the township who reside
outside the corporate limits of the city, but a township officer may
be a resident of the city.
a. Township officers. The election of township officers
shall take place at the general election on ballots which shall not
reflect a nominee's political affiliation. A person seeking election
as township officer shall file an affidavit of candidacy with the
county commissioner of elections pursuant to section 45.3. A
plurality is sufficient to elect the township officers.
b. Township trustees. Township trustees shall be elected
biennially to succeed those whose terms of office expire on the first
day of January following the election which is not a Sunday or legal
holiday. The term of office of each elected township trustee is four
years, except as provided in subsection 1 for initial terms following
restoration of the election process.
c. Township clerk. At the general election held in the year
1990 and every four years thereafter, in each civil township one
township clerk shall be elected who shall hold office for the term of
four years. Section History: Early Form
[C27, 31, 35, § 523-b1; C39, § 523.1; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66,
71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 39.22] Section History: Recent Form
85 Acts, ch 30, § 1; 86 Acts, ch 1117, § 1; 87 Acts, ch 68, § 2;
88 Acts, ch 1119, § 1; 88 Acts, ch 1134, § 18, 19; 95 Acts, ch 67, §
53; 2001 Acts, ch 56, §3; 2005 Acts, ch 152, § 2, 3; 2007 Acts, ch
25, §1; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §201
Referred to in § 39.21