SB1455

THE CONTEXT: Under current law, an office held by an elected, appointed or contracted officer, before the expiration of a term of office, is considered vacant from and after: 1) the officer's death; 2) the officer is judicially determined to be insane; 3) the officer's resignation and the lawful acceptance of the resignation; 4) the officer's removal from office, board or commission; 5) the officer ceases to be a resident of the state, district, county, city, town or precinct; 6) the officer's absence from the state for a period of three consecutive months without permission of the Legislature; 7) the officer ceases to dis...

WHAT THE BILL DID: The final vetoed version would decreases the consecutive amount of time a public officer may cease duties before the office is deemed vacant from 3 months to 45 days, except for Legislative members, modify the consecutive time an office is deemed vacant for a public officer receiving orders for active military duty from 3 months to 45 days, and make technical and conforming changes.

WHY IT MATTERED: The practical reason for this bill was to make a concrete adjustment to the existing rule for office vacancy. It would decreases the consecutive amount of time a public officer may cease duties before the office is deemed vacant from 3 months to 45 days, except for Legislative members, and would also modify the consecutive time an office is deemed vacant for a public officer receiving orders for active military duty from 3 months to 45 days, rather than leave the current rule unchanged.