AN ACT Relating to public hospital districts; amending RCW 70.44.040, 70.44.045, 70.44.051, and 70.44.053; adding a new section to chapter 70.44 RCW; and repealing RCW 70.44.055 and 70.44.057.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 70.44.040 and 1990 c 259 s 39 are each amended to read as follows:

The provisions of Title 29 RCW relating to elections shall govern public hospital districts, except ((~~that: (1)~~)) as provided in this chapter.

A public hospital district shall be created when the ballot proposition authorizing the creation of the public hospital district is approved by a simple majority vote of the voters of the proposed district who vote on the proposition and the total vote cast upon the proposition ((~~to form a hospital district shall~~)) exceeds forty percent of the total number of votes cast in the ((~~precincts comprising the~~)) proposed district at the preceding general ((~~and~~)) county election((; and (2) hospital district commissioners shall hold office for the term of six years and until their successors are elected and qualified, each term to commence on the first day in January following the election)).

At the election at which the proposition is submitted to the voters as to whether a district shall be formed, three commissioners shall be elected ((to hold office, respectively, for the terms of two, four, and six years. All candidates shall be voted upon by the entire district, and the candidate residing in commissioner district No. 1 receiving the highest number of votes in the hospital district shall hold office for the term of six years; the candidate residing in commissioner district No. 2 receiving the highest number of votes in the hospital district shall hold office for the term of four years; and the candidate residing in commissioner district No. 3 receiving the highest number of votes in the hospital district shall hold office for the term of two years. The first commissioners to be elected shall take office immediately when qualified in accordance with RCW 29.01.135. Each term of the initial commissioners shall date from the time above specified following the organizational election, but shall also include the period intervening between the organizational election and the first day of January following the next district general election: PROVIDED, That in public hospital districts encompassing portions of more than one county, the total vote cast upon the proposition to form the district shall exceed forty percent of the total number of votes cast in each portion of each county lying within the proposed district at the next preceding general county election. The portion of the proposed district located within each county shall constitute a separate commissioner district. There shall be three district commissioners whose terms shall be six years. Each district shall be designated by the name of the county in which it is located. All candidates for commissioners shall be voted upon by the entire district. Not more than one commissioner shall reside in any one district: PROVIDED FURTHER, That in the event there are only two districts then two commissioners may reside in one district. The term of each commissioner shall commence on the first day in January in each year following his election. At the election at which the proposition is submitted to the voters as to whether a district shall be formed, three commissioners shall be elected to hold office, respectively, for the terms of two, four, and six years. The candidate receiving the highest number of votes within the district, as constituted by the election, shall serve a term of six years; the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes shall hold office for a term of four years; and the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes shall hold office for a term of two years: PROVIDED FURTHER, That the holding of each such term of office shall be subject to the residential requirements for district commissioners hereinbefore set forth in this section)). The election of the initial commissioners shall be null and void if the district is not authorized to be created.

The terms of office of the initial public hospital district commissioners shall be staggered as follows: (1) The winning candidates for commissioner positions number one and two each shall be elected to four-year terms of office, if the election was held in an odd-numbered year, or to three-year terms of office, if the election was held in an even-numbered year; and (2) the winning candidate for commission position number three shall be elected to a two-year term of office, if the election was held in an odd-numbered year, or a one-year term of office, if the election was held in an even-numbered year. The length of such terms of office shall be computed from the first day of January in the year following this election. The term of office of each successor shall be four years.

Commissioner districts shall be used for residency purposes only in all public hospital district elections relating to commissioners, unless the district has abandoned the use of commissioner districts. Voters of the entire hospital district may vote at any election to nominate or elect any commissioner. If the proposed public hospital district is county-wide, and the county has three county legislative authority districts, the county legislative authority districts shall be used as hospital commissioner districts. In all other instances, the county auditor of the county in which all or the largest portion of the proposed public hospital district is located shall draw the initial three commissioner districts each of which comprises as nearly as possible one-third of the total population of the proposed public hospital district and number the districts one, two, and three. Each of the three commissioner positions shall be numbered one through three and associated with the district of the same number.

The public hospital district commissioners may redraw commissioner districts so that each district comprises as nearly as possible one-third of the total population of the proposed public hospital district.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 70.44 RCW to read as follows:

The terms of office of each public hospital district commissioner shall be reduced to four years, except for those commissioners whose terms of office would have expired on January 1, 1992. Commencing at the 1991 general election, each person elected as a public hospital district commissioner shall be elected to a four-year term of office, except for the staggering of terms and filling of vacancies.

Sec. 3. RCW 70.44.045 and 1982 c 84 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:

A vacancy in the office of commissioner shall occur by death, resignation, removal, conviction of felony, nonattendance at meetings of the commission for sixty days, unless excused by the commission, by any statutory disqualification, by any permanent disability preventing the proper discharge of ((~~his~~)) the commissioner's duty((~~, or by creation of positions pursuant to RCW 70.44.051, et seq~~)). A vacancy or vacancies on the board shall be filled by appointment by the remaining commissioner or commissioners until the next regular election for commissioners as provided by RCW 70.44.040: PROVIDED, That if there is only one remaining commissioner, one vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the remaining commissioner and the remaining vacancy or vacancies shall be filled by appointment by the then two commissioners and the appointed commissioners shall serve until the next regular election for commissioners: PROVIDED FURTHER, That if there is a vacancy of the entire board, a new board may be appointed by the board of county commissioners or county council.

Sec. 4. RCW 70.44.051 and 1967 c 77 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

((~~In addition to the procedures enumerated in RCW 70.44.020, 70.44.030 and 70.44.035,~~)) The board of public hospital district commissioners in an existing intracounty or intercounty district may be increased from three members to five or to seven members; and the board of public hospital district commissioners in any district created after June 8, 1967 may ((~~have~~)) be increased from three((,)) members to five or seven ((~~commissioners~~)) members.

Sec. 5. RCW 70.44.053 and 1967 c 77 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

At any general or special election which may be called for that purpose the board of public hospital district commissioners may, or on petition of ten percent of the electors based on the total vote cast in the last district general election in the public hospital district shall, by resolution, submit to the voters of the district the proposition increasing the number of commissioners to any number authorized in RCW 70.44.051. The petition or resolution shall specify whether it is proposed to increase the number of commissioners to either five or seven members.

If the voters of the district approve the ballot proposition authorizing the increase in the number of commissioners to either five or seven members, an election to nominate candidates for the additional positions shall be held at the next September special election, occurring in either an even or odd-numbered year, and an election to elect each additional commissioner shall be held at the following November election. Candidates shall run for specific commissioner positions.

Where the number of commissioners is increased to five, the two new commissioner positions shall not be associated with a commissioner district. The initial new terms shall be staggered so that the winning candidate receiving the greatest number of votes shall be elected to a four-year term of office, if the election was held in an odd-numbered year, or three-year term of office if the election was held in an odd-numbered year, and the other winning candidate shall be elected to a two-year term of office, if the election was held in an odd-numbered year, or a one-year term of office, if the election was held in an even-numbered year. The two new elected commissioners shall assume office as provided in RCW 29.04.170. Successors shall be elected to four-year terms of office.

Where the number of commissioners is increased to seven, one of the new commissioner positions shall be associated with each of the three commissioner districts, and the initial terms of each of the three new commissioner positions shall be staggered, so that at each subsequent district general election one position associated with each of the three commissioner districts is elected to a four-year term of office. The fourth new commissioner position shall not be associated with a commissioner district and the winning candidate shall be elected to a four-year term of office, if the election was held in an odd-numbered year, or a three-year term of office, if the election was held in an even-numbered year. Successors shall be elected to four-year terms of office.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:

(1) RCW 70.44.055 and 1967 c 77 s 3; and

(2) RCW 70.44.057 and 1967 c 77 s 4.