31-787 Trustee; removal by recall; petition; procedure.
31-787. Trustee; removal by recall; petition; procedure.(1) A trustee of a sanitary and improvement district may be removed from office by recall pursuant to sections 31-786 to 31-793. A petition demanding that the question of removing a trustee be submitted to the qualified resident voters or qualified property owning voters that elected such trustee shall be signed by qualified resident voters or qualified property owning voters, as the case may be, who represent at least thirty-five percent of the number of votes cast for the trustee who received the most votes in the last district election pursuant to section 31-735 and who was elected by the same voters as the trustee whose recall is being sought. The signatures shall be affixed to petition papers and shall be considered part of the petition.(2) The petition papers shall be procured from the filing clerk. Prior to the issuance of such petition papers, an affidavit shall be signed and filed with the filing clerk by at least one qualified resident voter of the district, if the trustee whose recall is being sought was elected solely by qualified resident voters, or at least one qualified resident voter or qualified property owning voter, if the trustee whose recall is being sought was elected by other qualified resident voters and qualified property owning voters. Such voter or voters shall be deemed to be the principal circulator or circulators of the recall petition. The affidavit shall state the name of the trustee sought to be removed and whether qualified property owning voters participated in the election of the trustee and shall request that the filing clerk issue initial petition papers to the principal circulator for circulation. The filing clerk shall notify the principal circulator or circulators that the necessary signatures must be gathered within thirty days after the date of issuing the petitions.(3) The filing clerk, upon issuing the initial petition papers or any subsequent petition papers, shall enter in a record, to be kept in his or her office, the name of the principal circulator or circulators to whom the papers were issued, the date of issuance, the number of papers issued, and whether qualified property owning voters may participate in signing the petitions. The filing clerk shall certify on the papers the name of the principal circulator or circulators to whom the papers were issued, the date they were issued, and whether qualified property owning voters may participate in signing the petitions. No petition paper shall be accepted as part of the petition unless it bears such certificate. The principal circulator or circulators who check out petitions from the filing clerk may distribute such petitions to persons who may act as circulators of such petitions.(4) Each signer of a recall petition shall be (a) qualified to vote in a district election and (b) a qualified resident voter if the trustee whose recall is being sought was elected solely by qualified resident voters. SourceLaws 1997, LB 874, § 2; Laws 2002, LB 176, § 5; Laws 2003, LB 444, § 2.