Iowa

I.C.A. § 277.3

IOWA CODE ANNOTATED

TITLE VII. EDUCATION AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS

SUBTITLE 6. SCHOOL DISTRICTS

CHAPTER 277. SCHOOL ELECTIONS

§ 277.3. Election laws applicable

The provisions of chapters 39 to 53 shall apply to the conduct of all school elections and the school elections shall be conducted by the county commissioner of elections, except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter.

I.C.A. § 277.4

§ 277.4. Nominations required

Nomination papers for all candidates for election to office in each school district shall be filed with the secretary of the school board not more than sixty-four days, nor less than forty days before the election. Nomination petitions shall be filed not later than five p.m. on the last day for filing. If the school board secretary is not readily available during normal office hours, the secretary may designate a full-time employee of the school district who is ordinarily available to accept nomination papers under this section. On the final date for filing nomination papers the office of the school secretary shall remain open until five p.m.

Each candidate shall be nominated by petition. If the candidate is running for a seat in the district which is voted for at-large, the petition must be signed by at least ten eligible electors, or a number of eligible electors equal in number to not less than one percent of the registered voters of the school district, whichever is more. If the candidate is running for a seat which is voted for only by the voters of a director district, the petition must be signed by at least ten eligible electors of the director district or a number of eligible electors equal in number to not less than one percent of the registered voters in the director district, whichever is more. A petition filed under this section shall not be required to have more than one hundred signatures.

Signers of nomination petitions shall include their addresses and the date of signing, and must reside in the same director district as the candidate if directors are elected by the voters of a director district, rather than at large. A person may sign nomination petitions for more than one candidate for the same office, and the signature is not invalid solely because the person signed nomination petitions for one or more other candidates for the office. The petition shall be filed with the affidavit of the candidate being nominated, stating the candidate's name, place of residence, that such person is a candidate and is eligible for the office the candidate seeks, and that if elected the candidate will qualify for the office. The affidavit shall also state that the candidate is aware that the candidate is disqualified from holding office if the candidate has been convicted, and never pardoned, of a felony or other infamous crime.

The secretary of the school board shall accept the petition for filing if on its face it appears to have the requisite number of signatures and if it is timely filed. The secretary of the school board shall note upon each petition and affidavit accepted for filing the date and time that the petition was filed. The secretary of the school board shall deliver all nomination petitions, together with the complete text of any public measure being submitted by the board to the electorate, to the county commissioner of elections not later than five o'clock p.m. on the day following the last day on which nomination petitions can be filed.

Any person on whose behalf nomination petitions have been filed under this section may withdraw as a candidate by filing a signed statement to that effect with the secretary at any time prior to five o'clock p.m. on the thirty-fifth day before the election.

I.C.A. § 277.5

§ 277.5. Objections to nominations

Objections to the legal sufficiency of a nomination petition or to the eligibility of a candidate may be filed by any person who would have the right to vote for a candidate for the office in question. The objection must be filed with the secretary of the school board at least thirty-five days before the day of the school election. When objections are filed notice shall forthwith be given to the candidate affected, addressed to the candidate's place of residence as given on the candidate's affidavit, stating that objections have been made to the legal sufficiency of the petition or to the eligibility of the candidate, and also stating the time and place the objections will be considered.

Objections shall be considered not later than two working days following the receipt of the objections by the president of the school board, the secretary of the school board, and one additional member of the school board chosen by ballot. If objections have been filed to the nominations of either of those school officials, that official shall not pass on the objection. The official's place shall be filled by a member of the school board against whom no objection exists. The replacement shall be chosen by ballot.

I.C.A. § 277.23

§277.23. Directors--number--change

In any district including all or part of a city of fifteen thousand or more population and in any district in which the voters have authorized seven directors, the board shall consist of seven members; in all other districts the board shall consist of five members.

A change from five to seven directors shall be effected in a district at the first regular election after authorization by the voters or when a district becomes wholly or in part within a city of fifteen thousand population or more in the following manner: If the term of one director of the five-member board expires at the time of said regular election, three directors shall be elected to serve until the third regular election thereafter; if the terms of two directors expire at the time of said regular election, three directors shall be elected to serve until the third regular election thereafter and one director shall be elected to serve a term the expiration of which coincides with the expiration of the term of the director heretofore singly elected.

I.C.A. § 277.27

§ 277.27. Qualification

A member of the board shall, at the time of election or appointment, be an eligible elector of the corporation or subdistrict. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of the Code, a member of the board of directors of a school district shall not receive compensation directly from the school board.

I.C.A. § 277.29

§ 277.29. Vacancies

Failure to elect at the proper election or to appoint within the time fixed by law or the failure of the officer elected or appointed to qualify within the time prescribed by law; the incumbent ceasing for any reason to be a resident of the district or removing residence from the subdistrict; the resignation or death of incumbent or of the officer-elect; the removal of the incumbent from, or forfeiture of, the office, or the decision of a competent tribunal declaring the office vacant; the conviction of incumbent of a felony, as defined in section 701.7, or of any public offense involving the violation of the incumbent's oath of office, shall constitute a vacancy.

I.C.A. S 279.6

IOWA CODE ANNOTATED

TITLE VII. EDUCATION AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS

SUBTITLE 6. SCHOOL DISTRICTS

CHAPTER 279. DIRECTORS--POWERS AND DUTIES

§ 279.6. Vacancies--qualification--tenure

Vacancies occurring among the officers or members of a school board shall be filled by the board by appointment. A person so appointed to fill a vacancy in an elective office shall hold office until a successor is elected and qualified pursuant to section 69.12. A person appointed to fill a vacancy in an appointive office shall hold such office for the residue of the unexpired term and until a successor is appointed and qualified. Any person so appointed shall qualify within ten days thereafter in the manner required by section 277.28.

However, if a member of a school board resigns from the board prior to the time for filing nomination papers for office as a school board member, as provided in section 277.4, and specifies in the resignation that the resignation will be effective on the date the next term of office for elective school officials begins, the president of the board shall declare the office vacant as of that date and nomination papers shall be received for the unexpired term of the resigning member. The person elected at the next regular school election to fill the vacancy shall take office at the same time and place as the other elected school board members.

I.C.A. S 279.32

§ 279.32. Compensation of officers

The board shall fix the compensation to be paid the secretary. No member of the board shall receive compensation for official services. The board may pay a school treasurer a reasonable compensation.

Actual and necessary expenses, including travel, incurred by the board or individual members thereof in the performance of official duties may be paid or reimbursed.