HB 37

 2026  26LSO-0344
                             STATE OF WYOMING
                             HOUSE BILL NO. HB0037
 County officials-nonpartisan elections.
 Sponsored  by:    Representative(s)  Chestek, Brown, L  and
                         Campbell,  E   and  Senator(s)  Pappas        and
                         Rothfuss
                                       A BILL
                                           for
1 AN ACT relating to elections; providing for the nonpartisan
2 nomination and election of candidates for specified county
3 elected offices; modifying the procedure to fill vacancies
4 for nonpartisan county elected offices; providing for the
5 order    of        offices     on        nonpartisan      election     ballots;
6 specifying the form of election ballots; making conforming
7 amendments;  repealing        a     conflicting  provision;      and
8 providing for an effective date.
9
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
11
12Section 1.  W.S. 5-3-201, 7-4-101, 9-1-801, 18-3-101,
13 22-4-304(b),        22-5-203    by       creating    a   new    subsection    (c),
14 22-5-215,  22-5-304(b),       22-6-117(a)(ix),  22-6-125(a)     by
15 creating      a    new    paragraph       (vi)   and     by    renumbering    (vi)
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1 through (xiv) as (vii) through (xv), 22-6-126 by creating a
2 new     subsection      (c)     and     22-18-111(a)(ii)  and    (vi)    are
3 amended to read:
4
55-3-201.       Office created; term; election in counties
6 of    first    and     second    class;       county       clerk    designated       ex
7 officio clerk in other counties.
8
9 There    shall    be    a   clerk     of     the     district      court    in     each
10 organized county of the state whose term of office shall be
11 four    (4)    years    and     until       his   successor        is   elected     and
12 qualified.      The    position       of     clerk    of    the    district       court
13 shall be nonpartisan. Clerks of the district court shall be
14 elected at general elections in counties of the first and
15 second class; and in all other counties the county clerk
16 shall be ex officio clerk of the district court, and shall
17 perform all of the duties pertaining to the office of clerk
18 of the district court.
19
207-4-101.       Election; oath; bond.
21
22 A coroner shall be elected in each county for a term of
23 four     (4)     years.       The     position       of     coroner        shall     be
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1 nonpartisan.  He    shall        take      the    oath    prescribed  by   the
2 constitution of the state and give bond to the state of
3 Wyoming, in the penal sum of one hundred thousand dollars
4 ($100,000.00), with a sufficient surety, to be approved by
5 the board of county commissioners, conditioned that he will
6 faithfully perform all duties required by law.
7
89-1-801.  Office     created;  mandatory      and    permissive
9 establishment.
10
11 There shall be in each judicial district in which any one
12 (1)    county      has     reached       a       population      of     sixty      thousand
13 (60,000) or more the office of district attorney. In each
14 of    the   remaining        judicial  districts      there    shall      be   the
15 office      of    district        attorney        whenever       a    majority      of   the
16 county      commissioners  in    each      county       within    the      judicial
17 district  shall    resolve       that      such     an   office       of    district
18 attorney should be created in that judicial district. The
19 position of district attorney shall be nonpartisan.
20
2118-3-101.  Nonpartisan  county        offices;  time    of
22 qualifying.
23
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1(a)    The offices of county clerk, county treasurer,
2 county       assessor,   county    coroner,   sheriff,     county    and
3 prosecuting attorney, district attorney and clerk of the
4 district court under this chapter shall be nonpartisan.
5
6(b)    All county officers elected at a general election
7 shall qualify and assume their offices on the first Monday
8 in January next following their election.
9
1022-4-304.    Certification of candidates; fees.
11
12(b)    The chairman and secretary of the state or county
13 political convention shall certify to the county clerk the
14 names of its party's nominees for elected county offices
15 and office of the district attorney commissioner.
16
1722-5-203.    Nonpartisan offices; separate ballot; same
18 time.
19
20(c)    Candidates     for   the   nonpartisan     positions   of
21 county   clerk,     county    treasurer,   county   assessor,   county
22 coroner, sheriff, county and prosecuting attorney, district
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1 attorney and clerk of the district court shall be nominated
2 only by nonpartisan primary election.
3
422-5-215.       Nomination        of    partisan       candidates      and
5 write-in candidates, nonpartisan candidates.
6
7(a)    On each party ballot the candidate or candidates
8 equal in number to the number to be elected to each office
9 who receive the largest number of votes shall be nominated
10 and shall be entitled to have their names printed on the
11 ballot for the next general election. A write-in candidate
12 shall not be nominated and shall not be entitled to have
13 his    name   printed     on   the       ballot     for    the     next   general
14 election      unless    he   received  at   least    twenty-five     (25)
15 write-in votes in the primary election and is a registered
16 voter in the political party for which he was nominated on
17 the day of the primary election. An unsuccessful candidate
18 for office at a primary election whose name is printed on
19 any party ballot may not accept nomination for the same
20 office at the next general election.
21
22(b)    For nonpartisan candidates, the candidates equal
23 in number to (2) times the number to be elected to each
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1 office that receive the largest number of votes shall be
2 entitled to have their names printed on the ballot for the
3 next general election. A write-in candidate shall not be
4 entitled to have his name printed on the ballot for the
5 next    general  election  unless      he     received  at    least
6 twenty-five (25) write-in votes in the primary election.
7
822-5-304.  Qualifications  and      number       of        signers
9 required.
10
11(b)     For       a     countywide  partisan  office  county
12 commissioner,        a       petition     shall     be     signed       by    registered
13 electors, resident in the county and eligible to vote for
14 the petitioner, numbering not less than two percent (2%) of
15 the    total     number        of    votes     cast      for    representative  in
16 congress       in    the      last    general      election       for        the   entire
17 county.
18
1922-6-117.  Order       of    listing  offices       in    partisan
20 elections.
21
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1(a)     The   major    party       primary       and   general     partisan
2 election ballots shall contain the offices to be voted on
3 in the following order:
4
5(ix)    Candidates  for       county  commissioner;,
6 coroner,       district      attorney,  county    attorney,       sheriff,
7 clerk,       treasurer,   assessor,  and     clerk     of    the   district
8 court;
9
1022-6-125.      Order of offices and ballot propositions on
11 nonpartisan ballots.
12
13(a)     The nonpartisan ballot shall contain the offices
14 and ballot propositions to be voted on in the following
15 order:
16
17(vi)    Candidates  for     the     nonpartisan      county
18 offices of county clerk, county treasurer, county assessor,
19 county coroner, sheriff, county and prosecuting attorney,
20 district attorney and clerk of the district court;
21
22(vi)(vii)      Candidates for municipal offices;
23
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1(vii)(viii)     Candidates     for    community    college
2 trustees;
3
4(viii)(ix)     Candidates for school board trustees;
5
6(ix)(x)     Candidates       for     special      district
7 directors;
8
9(x)(xi)     Candidates for other offices of county
10 subdivisions;
11
12(xi)(xii)     Constitutional amendments;
13
14(xii)(xiii)     Initiative propositions;
15
16(xiii)(xiv)     Referendum propositions;
17
18(xiv)(xv)     Other ballot propositions.
19
2022-6-126.   Form of nonpartisan ballots.
21
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1(c)     The    official     nonpartisan      ballot    for    a    general
2 election shall be printed in substantially the following
3 form:
4
5(i)     Across the top shall  be printed "Official
6 Nonpartisan General Election Ballot";
7
8(ii)    On the first line shall be printed the name
9 of the county in which the ballot is used, the date of the
10 election and blank lines for entry of the election district
11 and precinct number;
12
13(iii)       Candidates for the different offices shall
14 be     arranged       in    separate       groups   as    provided       by   W.S.
15 22-6-119(a)(iv);
16
17(iv)    Except for justices of the supreme court,
18 judges    of    the     district    court,     circuit     court    judges    and
19 magistrates, below the list of candidates in each group
20 shall be printed blank lines for write-in candidates equal
21 in number to the number of persons to be elected;
22
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1(v)     Adjacent to the name of each candidate and
2 blank lines shall be printed a square for marking the vote.
3 No square shall appear at the top of a column;
4
5(vi)    Following each of the offices of justices
6 of the supreme court, judges of the district court, circuit
7 court    judges     and   magistrates   shall   be   printed:   "Shall
8 Justice/Judge/Magistrate .... be retained in office?";
9
10(vii)    Following all offices shall be printed any
11 ballot proposition in accordance with W.S. 22-6-124.
12
1322-18-111.     Vacancies    in   other    offices;    temporary
14 appointments.
15
16(a)   Any vacancy in any other elective office in the
17 state except representative in congress or the board of
18 trustees of a school or community college district, shall
19 be filled by the governing body, or as otherwise provided
20 in this section, by appointment of a temporary successor.
21 The person appointed shall serve until a successor for the
22 remainder of the  unexpired term is     elected at    the   next
23 general election and takes office on the first Monday of
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1 the following January.  Provided, if a vacancy in a four
2 (4) year term of office occurs in the term's second or
3 subsequent  years    after    the    first        day     for   filing    an
4 application for nomination pursuant to W.S. 22-5-209, no
5 election       to     fill   the     vacancy    shall       be     held    and   the
6 temporary successor appointed shall serve the remainder of
7 the unexpired term.  The following apply:
8
9(ii)    If a vacancy occurs in a county elective
10 office, except as provided in W.S. 18-3-524, the board of
11 county commissioners of the county in which the vacancy
12 occurs shall immediately notify in writing the chairman of
13 the county central committee of the political party which
14 the last incumbent represented at the time of his election
15 under        W.S.    22-6-120(a)(vii),  or    at     the     time    of   his
16 appointment if not elected to office. The chairman shall
17 call a meeting of the county central committee to be held
18 not later than fifteen (15) days after he receives notice
19 of     the    vacancy.        At     the    meeting       the     county    central
20 committee shall select and transmit to the board of county
21 commissioners the names of three (3) persons qualified to
22 hold    the     office.       Within five       (5) days after receiving
23 these three (3) names, the board of county commissioners
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1 shall fill the vacancy by appointment of one (1) of the
2 three (3) to hold the office.  If the incumbent who has
3 vacated office did not represent a political party at the
4 time of his election, or at the time of his appointment if
5 not    elected      to    office,    the   county     commissioners       shall
6 publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the county
7 and on the county website, notice that within fifteen (15)
8 days after publication any person qualified to hold the
9 office     may   make       application      directly       to   the     county
10 commissioners for appointment to fill the vacancy.  Within
11 twenty (20) days after the publication of the vacancy in
12 office the county commissioners shall fill the vacancy by
13 appointment of one (1) person qualified to hold the office
14 from those submitting applications;
15
16(vi)        If the    county commissioners fail to fill
17 any vacancy as required in this section within the time
18 specified, any person residing in the county or legislative
19 district who is qualified to hold the office may file a
20 petition with the clerk of the district court of the county
21 or     legislative       district    in    which    the    vacancy     occurred
22 requesting the judge of  the   district court        to    fill   the
23 vacancy.    Within        thirty    (30)   days    after   the   petition     is
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1 filed    the    judge      shall    fill     the   vacancy    by appointing       a
2 person    residing  in   the     county     or   legislative      district
3 belonging      to    the    same      political    party     as   the   incumbent
4 represented  at    the    time       of   his    election    under    W.S.
5 22-6-120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not
6 elected to office, who is qualified to hold the office. If
7 the incumbent did not represent any political party at the
8 time of his election or at the time of his appointment if
9 not elected to office, the judge may appoint any person
10 residing       in   the    county      or    legislative     district      who   is
11 qualified to hold the office to fill the vacancy.
12
13Section 2.  W.S. 22-6-126(a) is repealed.
14
15Section 3.  This act is effective July 1, 2026.
16
17(END)
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