AN
ACT Relating to public hospital district elections; amending RCW 70.44.040,
70.44.042, and 70.44.053; adding new sections to chapter 70.44 RCW; and
declaring an emergency.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
70.44.040 and 1994 c 223 s 78 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The provisions of Title 29 RCW relating to elections shall govern public
hospital districts, except as provided in this chapter.
A
public hospital district shall be created when the ballot proposition
authorizing the creation of the district is approved by a simple majority vote
of the voters of the proposed district voting on the proposition and the total
vote cast upon the proposition exceeds forty percent of the total number of
votes cast in the proposed district at the preceding state general election.
A
public hospital district initially may be created with three, five, or seven
commissioner districts. At the election at which the proposition is
submitted to the voters as to whether a district shall be formed, three,
five, or seven commissioners shall be elected from either three, five,
or seven commissioner districts, or at-large positions, or both, as determined
by resolution of the county commissioners of the county or counties in which
the proposed public hospital district is located, all in accordance with
section 4 of this act. The election of the initial commissioners shall be
null and void if the district is not authorized to be created.
No
primary shall be held. A special filing period shall be opened as provided in
RCW 29.15.170 and 29.15.180. The person receiving the greatest number of votes
for the commissioner of each commissioner district or at-large position
shall be elected as the commissioner of that district. The terms of office of
the initial public hospital district commissioners shall be staggered, with
the length of the terms assigned so that the person or persons who are elected
receiving the greater number of votes being assigned a longer term or terms of
office and each term of an initial commissioner running until a successor
assumes office who is elected at one of the next three following district
general elections the first of which occurs at least one hundred twenty days
after the date of the election where voters approved the ballot proposition
creating the district, as follows:
(a)
((The person who is elected receiving the greatest number of votes shall be
elected to a six-year term of office if the election is held in an odd-numbered
year or a five-year term of office if the election is held in an even-numbered
year; (b) the person who is elected receiving the next greatest number of votes
shall be elected to a four-year term of office if the election is held in an
odd-numbered year or a three-year term of office if the election is held in an
even-numbered year; and (c) the other person who is elected shall be elected to
a two-year term of office if the election is held in an odd-numbered year or a
one-year term of office if the election is held in an even-numbered year)) If
the public hospital district will have three commissioners, the successor to
one initial commissioner shall be elected at such first following district
general election, the successor to one initial commissioner shall be elected at
the second following district general election, and the successor to one
initial commissioner shall be elected at the third following district general
election;
(b)
If the public hospital district will have five commissioners, the successor to
one initial commissioner shall be elected at such first following district
general election, the successors to two initial commissioners shall be elected
at the second following district general election, and the successors to two
initial commissioners shall be elected at the third following district general
election;
(c)
If the public hospital district will have seven commissioners, the successors
to two initial commissioners shall be elected at such first following district
general election, the successors to three initial commissioners shall be
elected at the second following district general election, and the successors
to three initial commissioners shall be elected at the third following district
general election.
The
initial commissioners shall take office immediately when they are elected and
qualified((, but the length of such terms shall be computed from the first
day of January in the year following this election)). The term of office
of each successor shall be six years. Each commissioner shall serve until a
successor is elected and qualified and assumes office in accordance with RCW
29.04.170.
(2)
((Commissioner districts shall be used as follows: (a))) Only a
registered voter who resides in a commissioner district may be a candidate for,
or hold office as, a commissioner of the commissioner district((; and (b)
only voters of a commissioner district may vote at a primary to nominate
candidates for a commissioner of the commissioner district)). Voters of
the entire public hospital district may vote at a primary or general
election to elect a person as a commissioner of the commissioner district.
If
the proposed public hospital district initially will have three commissioner
districts and the public hospital district is county-wide, and if
the county has three county legislative authority districts, the county
legislative authority districts shall be used as public hospital district
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)) public hospital
district commissioner districts((, each of which shall constitute as nearly
as possible one-third of the total population of the proposed public hospital
district and number the districts one, two, and three)) and designate
at-large positions, if appropriate, as provided in section 4 of this act.
Each of the ((three)) commissioner positions shall be numbered ((one
through three)) consecutively and associated with the commissioner
district or at-large position of the same number.
((The
public hospital district commissioners may redraw commissioner districts, if
the public hospital district has boundaries that are not coterminous with the
boundaries of a county with three county legislative authority districts, so
that each district comprises as nearly as possible one-third of the total
population of the public hospital district.)) The commissioners of a
public hospital district that is not coterminous with the boundaries of a
county that has three county legislative authority districts shall at the
times required in chapter 29.70 RCW and may from time to time redraw ((hospital
district)) commissioner district boundaries ((as provided))
in a manner consistent with chapter 29.70 RCW.
Sec.
2. RCW
70.44.042 and 1967 c 227 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
Notwithstanding
any provision in RCW 70.44.040 to the contrary, any board of public hospital district
commissioners may, by resolution, abolish commissioner districts and permit
candidates for any position on the board to reside anywhere in the public
hospital district.
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 voters 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 to reestablish commissioner districts.
Sec.
3. RCW
70.44.053 and 1994 c 223 s 80 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 voters 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 either
five or seven members. 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, the
board of commissioners shall redistrict the public hospital district into the
appropriate number of commissioner districts. The additional commissioners
shall be elected from commissioner districts in which no existing commissioner
resides at the next state general election occurring one hundred twenty days or
more after the date of the election at which the voters of the district
approved the ballot proposition authorizing the increase in the number of
commissioners. If needed, special filing periods shall be authorized as
provided in RCW 29.15.170 and 29.15.180 for qualified persons to file for the
vacant office. A primary shall be held to nominate candidates if sufficient
time exists to hold a primary and more than two candidates file for the vacant
office. Otherwise, a primary shall not be held and the candidate receiving the
greatest number of votes for each position shall be elected. Except for the
initial terms of office, persons elected to each of these additional
commissioner positions shall be elected to a six-year term.
Where
the number of commissioners is increased from three to five, the initial terms
of the two new commissioners shall be staggered so that the person who is
elected receiving the greatest number of votes shall be elected to a six-year
term of office if the election is held in an odd-numbered year or a five-year
term if the election is held in an even-numbered year, and the other person
elected shall be elected to a four-year term of office if the election is held
in an odd-numbered year or a three-year term if the election is held in an
even-numbered year. The newly elected commissioners shall assume office as
provided in RCW 29.04.170.
Where
the number of commissioners is increased from three or five to seven, the
county auditor of the county in which all or the largest portion of the
hospital district is located shall cause the initial terms of office of the
additional commissioners to be staggered over the next three district general
elections so that two commissioners would normally be elected at the first
district general election following the election where the additional
commissioners are elected, two commissioners are normally elected at the second
district general election after the election of the additional commissioners,
and three commissioners are normally elected at the third district general
election following the election of the additional commissioners. The newly
elected commissioners shall assume office as provided in RCW 29.04.170.))
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 4. A
new section is added to chapter 70.44 RCW to read as follows:
If
the voters of the district approve the ballot proposition authorizing the
increase in the number of commissioners to either five or seven members, the
additional commissioners shall be elected at large from the entire district;
provided that, the board of commissioners of the district may by resolution
redistrict the public hospital district into five commissioner districts if the
district has five commissioners or seven commissioner districts if the district
has seven commissioners. The board of commissioners shall draw the boundaries
of each commissioner district to include as nearly as possible equal portions
of the total population of the public hospital district.
If
the board of commissioners increases the number of commissioner districts as
provided in this section, one commissioner shall be elected from each
commissioner district, and no commissioner may be elected from a commissioner
district in which another commissioner resides.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 5. A
new section is added to chapter 70.44 RCW to read as follows:
In
all existing public hospital districts in which an increase in the number of
district commissioners is proposed, the additional commissioner positions shall
be deemed to be vacant and the board of commissioners of the public hospital
district shall appoint qualified persons to fill those vacancies in accordance
with RCW 42.12.070.
Each
person who is appointed shall serve until a qualified person is elected at the
next general election of the district occurring one hundred twenty days or more
after the date of the election at which the voters of the district approved the
ballot proposition authorizing the increase in the number of commissioners. If
needed, special filing periods shall be authorized as provided in RCW 29.15.170
and 29.15.180 for qualified persons to file for the vacant office. A primary
shall be held to nominate candidates if sufficient time exists to hold a
primary and more than two candidates file for the vacant office. Otherwise, no
primary shall be held and the candidate receiving the greatest number of votes
for each position shall be elected. Except for the initial terms of office,
persons elected to each of these additional commissioner positions shall be
elected to a six-year term. The newly elected commissioners shall assume
office as provided in RCW 29.04.170.
The
initial terms of the new commissioners shall be staggered as follows: (1) When
the number of commissioners is increased from three to five, the person elected
receiving the greatest number of votes shall be elected to a six-year term of
office, and the other person shall be elected to a four-year term; (2) when the
number of commissioners is increased from three or five to seven, the terms of
the new commissioners shall be staggered over the next three district general
elections so that two commissioners will be elected at the first district
general election following the election where the additional commissioners are
elected, two commissioners will be at the second district general election
after the election of the additional commissioners, and three commissioners
will be elected at the third district general election following the election
of the additional commissioners, with the persons elected receiving the
greatest number of votes elected to serve the longest terms.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 6. A
new section is added to chapter 70.44 RCW to read as follows:
If,
as the result of redrawing the boundaries of commissioner districts as
permitted or required under the provisions of this chapter, chapter 29.70 RCW,
or any other statute, more than the correct number of commissioners who are
associated with commissioner districts reside in the same commissioner
district, a commissioner or commissioners residing in that redrawn commissioner
district equal in number to the number of commissioners in excess of the
correct number shall be assigned to the drawn commissioner district or
districts in which less than the correct number of commissioners associated
with commissioner districts reside. The commissioner or commissioners who are
so assigned shall be those with the shortest unexpired term or terms of office,
but if the number of such commissioners with the same terms of office exceeds
the number that are to be assigned, the board of commissioners shall select by
lot from those commissioners which one or ones are assigned. A commissioner
who is so assigned shall be deemed to be a resident of the commissioner district
to which he or she is assigned for purposes of determining whether a position
is vacant.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 7. A
new section is added to chapter 70.44 RCW to read as follows:
No
appointment to fill a vacant position on or election to the board of
commissioners of any public hospital district made after June 9, 1994, and
before the effective date of this act is deemed to be invalid solely due to the
public hospital district's failure to redraw its commissioner district boundaries
if necessary to comply with chapter 223, Laws of 1994.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 8. This
act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or
safety, or support of the state government and its existing public
institutions, and takes effect immediately.
