S-4500               _______________________________________________

                                         SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL NO. 4639

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Governmental Operations (originally sponsored by Senators Granlund, Zimmerman and Thompson)

Read first time 2/6/86.

AN ACT Relating to vacancies in elective office; amending RCW 36.32.070; and adding a new section to chapter 42.12 RCW.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 36.32.070, chapter 4, Laws of 1963 and RCW 36.32.070 are each amended to read as follows:

          Whenever there is a vacancy in the board of county commissioners, it shall be filled as follows:

          (1) If there are three vacancies, the governor of the state shall appoint two of the officers.  The two commissioners thus appointed shall then meet and select the third commissioner.  ((If the two appointed commissioners fail to agree upon selection of the third after the expiration of five days from the day they were appointed, the governor shall appoint the remaining commissioner.))

          (2) Whenever there are two vacancies in the office of county commissioner, the governor shall appoint one commissioner, and the two commissioners then in office shall appoint the third commissioner.   ((If they fail to agree upon a selection after the expiration of five days from the day of the governor's appointment, the governor shall appoint the third commissioner.))

          (3) Whenever there is one vacancy in the office of county commissioner, the two remaining commissioners shall fill the vacancy.   ((If the two commissioners fail to agree upon a selection after the expiration of five days from the day the vacancy occurred, the governor shall appoint the third commissioner.))

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 42.12 RCW to read as follows:

          When a vacancy occurs in the office of senator or representative of a legislative district comprising more than one county, the legislative authorities of the counties partially and entirely within the district shall, in joint action, fill the vacancy.  The chairperson of the legislative authority of the county whose population residing within the district is greatest shall chair the meeting.  Members of each legislative authority shall cast individual votes that together amount to the percent, rounded to the nearest whole number, that the population of the county within the legislative district bears to the population of the entire district.  Populations shall be determined by the last decennial census or special census conducted by the bureau of the census of the United States department of commerce.  The person who receives a majority percentage of the votes shall be appointed to fill the vacancy.