Every elective office shall become vacant on the happening of any of the following events:
The death of the incumbent;
His or her resignation. A vacancy caused by resignation shall be deemed to occur upon the effective date of the resignation;
His or her removal;
Except as provided in RCW 3.46.067 and 3.50.057, his or her ceasing to be a legally registered voter of the district, county, city, town, or other municipal or quasi municipal corporation from which he or she shall have been elected or appointed, including where applicable the council district, commissioner district, or ward from which he or she shall have been elected or appointed;
His or her conviction of a felony, a gross misdemeanor for knowingly making false statements or claims regarding the legitimacy of the election process or of the election results as described in section 2 of this act, or of any offense involving a violation of his or her official oath**, except where removal from office is beyond the power of the state**;
His or her refusal or neglect to take his or her oath of office, or to give or renew his or her official bond, or to deposit such oath or bond within the time prescribed by law;
The decision of a competent tribunal declaring void his or her election or appointment; or
Whenever a judgment shall be obtained against that incumbent for breach of the condition of his or her official bond.
Resignations shall be made as follows: By the state officers and members of the legislature, to the governor; by all county officers, to the county commissioners of their respective counties; by all other officers, holding their offices by appointment, to the body, board or officer that appointed them.
[ Code 1881 § 3062; 1865 p 28 § 1; RRS § 9949; ]
Whenever any officer resigns his or her office before the expiration of his or her term, or the office becomes vacant from any other cause, and at a subsequent special election such vacancy is filled, the person so elected to fill such vacancy shall hold office for the remainder of the unexpired term.
[ 2012 c 117 § 105; 1981 c 180 § 5; Code 1881 § 3066; 1866 p 30 § 6; RRS § 9951; ]
If a vacancy occurs in any partisan elective office in the executive or legislative branches of state government or in any partisan county elective office before the first day of the regular filing period, the position must be open for filing during the regular filing period as provided in RCW 29A.24.171 and a successor shall be elected at the general election. Except during the last year of the term of office, if such a vacancy occurs on or after the first day of the regular filing period, the election of the successor shall occur at the next succeeding general election as provided in RCW 29A.24.171. The elected successor shall hold office for the remainder of the unexpired term. This section shall not apply to any vacancy occurring in a charter county which has charter provisions inconsistent with this section.
If a vacancy occurs in any legislative office or in any partisan county office after the general election in a year that the position appears on the ballot and before the start of the next term, the term of the successor who is of the same party as the incumbent may commence once he or she has qualified as defined in RCW 29A.04.133 and shall continue through the term for which he or she was elected.
[ 2013 c 11 § 88; 2011 c 349 § 27; 2006 c 344 § 29; 2005 c 2 § 15 (Initiative Measure No. 872, approved November 2, 2004); 2003 c 238 § 4; 2002 c 108 § 2; 1981 c 180 § 1; ]
A vacancy on an elected nonpartisan governing body of a special purpose district where property ownership is not a qualification to vote, a town, or a city other than a first-class city or a charter code city, shall be filled as follows unless the provisions of law relating to the special district, town, or city provide otherwise:
Where one position is vacant, the remaining members of the governing body shall appoint a qualified person to fill the vacant position.
Where two or more positions are vacant and two or more members of the governing body remain in office, the remaining members of the governing body shall appoint a qualified person to fill one of the vacant positions, the remaining members of the governing body and the newly appointed person shall appoint another qualified person to fill another vacant position, and so on until each of the vacant positions is filled with each of the new appointees participating in each appointment that is made after his or her appointment.
If less than two members of a governing body remain in office, the county legislative authority of the county in which all or the largest geographic portion of the city, town, or special district is located shall appoint a qualified person or persons to the governing body until the governing body has two members.
If a governing body fails to appoint a qualified person to fill a vacancy within ninety days of the occurrence of the vacancy, the authority of the governing body to fill the vacancy shall cease and the county legislative authority of the county in which all or the largest geographic portion of the city, town, or special district is located shall appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy.
If the county legislative authority of the county fails to appoint a qualified person within one hundred eighty days of the occurrence of the vacancy, the county legislative authority or the remaining members of the governing body of the city, town, or special district may petition the governor to appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy. The governor may appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy after being petitioned if at the time the governor fills the vacancy the county legislative authority has not appointed a qualified person to fill the vacancy.
As provided in chapter 29A.24 RCW, each person who is appointed shall serve until a qualified person is elected at the next election at which a member of the governing body normally would be elected. The person elected shall take office immediately and serve the remainder of the unexpired term.
[ 2013 c 11 § 89; 2011 c 349 § 28; 1994 c 223 § 1; ]