Reappointment of Officer and OML legal contact
One of the members of the governing body was absent from more than ½ of all meetings held within 4 consecutive months and therefore ceased to hold office according to 11 O.S. § 8-108.
The member was absent due to unavoidable work conflicts so the remaining members acknowledged the vacancy and immediately reappointed the member to their seat. It’s my opinion that the member now holds office by virtue of an appointment made under 11 O.S. § 8-109(A) and must therefore run for election to complete the 4 year term that will expire in 2027. (And to which they were elected in 2023.)
The member in question advises they called OML to ask if they have to run in 2025 as per 8-109(A) and was told that no, since they were initially elected to that seat, they do not have to run in 2025.
Based on previous experience with situations like this, I wonder if there was a misunderstanding, either by the OML representative as to the question or by the governing body member as to the answer. But I want to run this by you all to make sure I’m not the one who’s misunderstanding. 😊
Also, I expect the OML representative is a member here – but now that Daniel is in private practice I wasn’t sure who that is (and it’s too late to call tonight). Please feel free to call me if you are the OML employee who talked with this person.
Thank you all,
Kim Spady
405-542-6056
Kim,
I believe you are correct. At the point the Councilmember vacated their
seat, there was (obviously) a vacancy and the Council had the authority
(per 8-109(A)) to "appoint ... a person to fill the vacancy until the next
general municipal election... Any vacancy shall then be filled at the next
general municipal election ... by election of a person to complete the
balance of any unexpired term." The fact that the Council selected the very
same person that the people had elected doesn't change the fact and legal
reality that they are now a person appointed to fill the vacancy, and such
appointment is only good until the next general election. I'm not aware of
any authority that would create an exception to this plain text in the
statute if the person the Council appointed to fill the vacancy is the same
person who was the elected official but who vacated their seat.
If I had to guess, there was probably a misunderstanding. Christian @ OML
is on the OAMA distribution list so he should see this thread.
Matt
On Mon, Sep 16, 2024 at 6:06 PM Kimberlee Spady via Oama <
oama@lists.imla.org> wrote:
One of the members of the governing body was absent from more than ½ of
all meetings held within 4 consecutive months and therefore ceased to hold
office according to 11 O.S. § 8-108.
The member was absent due to unavoidable work conflicts so the remaining
members acknowledged the vacancy and immediately reappointed the member to
their seat. It’s my opinion that the member now holds office by virtue of
an appointment made under 11 O.S. § 8-109(A) and must therefore run for
election to complete the 4 year term that will expire in 2027. (And to
which they were elected in 2023.)
The member in question advises they called OML to ask if they have to run
in 2025 as per 8-109(A) and was told that no, since they were initially
elected to that seat, they do not have to run in 2025.
Based on previous experience with situations like this, I wonder if there
was a misunderstanding, either by the OML representative as to the question
or by the governing body member as to the answer. But I want to run this by
you all to make sure I’m not the one who’s misunderstanding. 😊
Also, I expect the OML representative is a member here – but now that
Daniel is in private practice I wasn’t sure who that is (and it’s too late
to call tonight). Please feel free to call me if you are the OML employee
who talked with this person.
Thank you all,
Kim Spady
405-542-6056
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Kimberlee,
Can you please call me about this as soon as possible on my cell at (405) 659-1282? We have records of every inquiry we respond to, and we are not aware of telling anyone they do not have to run at the next general municipal election if they are filling a vacancy under 11 O.S. §, 8-109 (A)https://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=75796. We have a generic email response we send to vacancy questions that specifically mentions the person only fills the vacancy until the next general election I can send to you. Also, when we respond to an inquiry, we are always very careful to say we do not provide legal advice, and we tell the person to talk to their municipal attorney since the municipal attorney will know all of the facts on the matter. Our Inquiry service provides the state statues, OML handbook sections, and any samples we may have from other municipalities related to the inquiry. If you would like to know our legal opinion on any inquiry, feel free to send me an email, submit an inquiry here: https://www.oml.org/inquiry, or call me directly.
Thanks,
Christian Rinehart
DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL
OKLAHOMA MUNICIPAL LEAGUE
201 Northeast 23rd Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 528-7515
[cid:2810edc5-42c3-43bc-b84d-8a248d4e531d]
The Municipal Inquiry Service provides information based on Oklahoma Statutes and sample policies from other member cities and towns to members of the Oklahoma Municipal League. There may be other facts and details that were unknown to OML or not relayed that may alter the information provided. OML does not provide legal advice or act as a legal advisor. The advice of your municipal attorney, as your legal advisor, should be followed before implementing any policy or making any decisions regarding your legal matters. The OML American Recovery Plan Act service provides information based on the guidance provided by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the state of Oklahoma. Each Oklahoma municipality is responsible for submitting and verifying the correct budget information, using ARPA funds correctly, and submitting a project and expenditure report by April 30th, 2023. The advice of a municipal attorney, as a legal advisor, should be followed before making any decisions regarding accepting, spending, or reporting on ARPA funds.
From: Matt Love via Oama oama@lists.imla.org
Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2024 8:47 AM
To: Kimberlee Spady kim@spadylaw.com
Cc: OAMA oama@lists.imla.org; daniel@localgovlawok.com daniel@localgovlawok.com
Subject: [Oama] Re: Reappointment of Officer and OML legal contact
Kim,
I believe you are correct. At the point the Councilmember vacated their seat, there was (obviously) a vacancy and the Council had the authority (per 8-109(A)) to "appoint ... a person to fill the vacancy until the next general municipal election... Any vacancy shall then be filled at the next general municipal election ... by election of a person to complete the balance of any unexpired term." The fact that the Council selected the very same person that the people had elected doesn't change the fact and legal reality that they are now a person appointed to fill the vacancy, and such appointment is only good until the next general election. I'm not aware of any authority that would create an exception to this plain text in the statute if the person the Council appointed to fill the vacancy is the same person who was the elected official but who vacated their seat.
If I had to guess, there was probably a misunderstanding. Christian @ OML is on the OAMA distribution list so he should see this thread.
Matt
On Mon, Sep 16, 2024 at 6:06 PM Kimberlee Spady via Oama <oama@lists.imla.orgmailto:oama@lists.imla.org> wrote:
One of the members of the governing body was absent from more than ½ of all meetings held within 4 consecutive months and therefore ceased to hold office according to 11 O.S. § 8-108.
The member was absent due to unavoidable work conflicts so the remaining members acknowledged the vacancy and immediately reappointed the member to their seat. It’s my opinion that the member now holds office by virtue of an appointment made under 11 O.S. § 8-109(A) and must therefore run for election to complete the 4 year term that will expire in 2027. (And to which they were elected in 2023.)
The member in question advises they called OML to ask if they have to run in 2025 as per 8-109(A) and was told that no, since they were initially elected to that seat, they do not have to run in 2025.
Based on previous experience with situations like this, I wonder if there was a misunderstanding, either by the OML representative as to the question or by the governing body member as to the answer. But I want to run this by you all to make sure I’m not the one who’s misunderstanding. 😊
Also, I expect the OML representative is a member here – but now that Daniel is in private practice I wasn’t sure who that is (and it’s too late to call tonight). Please feel free to call me if you are the OML employee who talked with this person.
Thank you all,
Kim Spady
405-542-6056
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