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Colorado > Colorado Electoral Code > Recall and Vacancies In Office

1-12-205. Vacancies in county offices

Overview of Statute

The board of county commissioners will fill vacancies in county offices, expect county commissioner, until the next general election when a new officer will be elected.

Statute

All vacancies in any county office, except that of county commissioner, shall be filled by appointment by the board of county commissioners of the county in which the vacancy occurs, until the next general election, at which time the vacancy shall be filled by election.

 

 

Source: L. 92: Entire article R&RE, p. 801, § 15, effective January 1, 1993.

Editor’s note: This section is similar to former § 1-12-105 as it existed prior to 1992.

Cross references: For determination of existence of vacancy in county offices, see § 30-10-105.
 
ANNOTATION

Annotator’s note. The following annotations include cases decided under former provisions similar to this section.

Where a county clerk-elect died before qualification, a vacancy in the office occurred on the expiration of the term of the then incumbent, to be filled by appointment by the county commissioners. Gibbs v. People ex rel. Watts, 66 Colo. 414, 182 P. 894 (1919).

One appointed to fill the vacant and unexpired term of a public office holds precisely as his predecessor would have done had the vacancy not occurred. People ex rel. Callaway v. De Guelle, 47 Colo. 13, 105 P. 1110 (1909) (decided under former law).

And one elected to a public office has a contingent or inchoate right which becomes absolute upon qualification. No one can enter into the office during the term for which another is elected, until the officer elected is ousted, or his right terminated, which can never occur until the day appointed by law for the enforcement of his term. If at that date he has failed to qualify, the office is vacant. People ex rel. Callaway v. De Guelle, 47 Colo. 13, 105 P. 1110 (1909) (decided under former law).

Definition [Section]

A bound compilation of initiative forms approved by the secretary of state, which shall include pages that contain the warning required by section 1-40-110 (1), the ballot title, the abstract required by section 1-40-110 (3), and a copy of the proposed measure; succeeding pages that contain the warning, the ballot title, and ruled lines numbered consecutively for registered electors’ signatures; and a final page that contains the affidavit required by section 1-40-111 (2). Each section shall be consecutively prenumbered by the petitioner prior to circulation.

Definition [Election]

Any election under the “Uniform Election Code of 1992” or the “Colorado Municipal Election Code of 1965”, article 10 of title 31, C.R.S. C.R.S. § 1-7.5-103.