OK
Oklahoma Senate Bill SB959

Oklahoma 2022 Regular Session

Oklahoma Senate Bill SB959 Compare Versions

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4-An Act
5-ENROLLED SENATE
6-BILL NO. 959 By: Paxton of the Senate
28+STATE OF OKLAHOMA
29+
30+1st Session of the 58th Legislature (2021)
31+
32+CONFERENCE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
33+FOR ENGROSSED
34+SENATE BILL 959 By: Paxton of the Senate
735
836 and
937
1038 Hilbert of the House
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42+
43+
44+CONFERENCE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
1445
1546 An Act relating to vacancies in office; amending 26
1647 O.S. 2011, Section 12 -101, as last amended by Section
1748 1, Chapter 341, O.S.L. 2019 (26 O.S. Supp. 2020,
1849 Section 12-101), which relates to vacancies in
1950 Congress; modifying procedure fo r filling vacancy in
2051 office of United States Senator; providing for
2152 irrevocable resignation on a date certain; amending
2253 51 O.S. 2011, Section 10, which rela tes to vacancies
2354 and special elections; specifying certain d uties of
2455 Governor; requiring certain appointment; providing
2556 for special elections; requiring submission of oath
2657 to Secretary of State for cer tain persons; requiring
2758 publication of oath on certain website ; updating
2859 statutory language; prohibit ing severability;
2960 providing for noncodifi cation; and declaring an
3061 emergency.
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35-SUBJECT: Vacancies in office
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3767 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
3868 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 26 O.S. 2011, Section 12 -101, as
3969 last amended by Section 1, Cha pter 341, O.S.L. 2019 (26 O.S. Supp.
4070 2020, Section 12-101), is amended to read as follows:
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4297 Section 12-101. A. Except as otherwise provided by law,
4398 whenever a vacancy shall occur in the office of a member of the
4499 United States Senate or United States House of Representatives from
45100 Oklahoma, such vacancy shall be filled at a Special Election to be
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48101 called by the Governor, who shall issue a Writ of Election within
49102 thirty (30) days after such vacancy occurs.
50-
51103 B. No special election shall be called if such a vacancy occurs
52104 in the office of a mem ber of the United States Senate in an even-
53105 numbered year if the term of the office expires the following year.
54106 In such case, the candidate elected to the office at the regular
55107 General Election shall be appointed by the Governor to fill the
56108 unexpired term.
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58109 C. If such a the vacancy occurs in the o ffice of a member of
59110 the United States House of Representatives in an ev en-numbered year,
60111 the Regular Primary Election, Runoff Primary Election o r General
61112 Election for that office shall be deemed to also serve as a Special
62113 Election to fill the unexpired te rm as designated by the Governor.
63114 Within thirty (30) days after such va cancy occurs, the Governor
64115 shall issue a Writ of Election declaring the s ame, and the candidate
65116 elected at the Regular Election shall be deeme d to have also been
66117 elected at a Special E lection to fill the unexpired term.
67-
68118 D. C. If a vacancy or irrevocable resignation occurs in the
69119 office of a member of the United States Senate from Oklahoma, the
70120 vacancy shall be filled as provided in subsection C of Section 10 of
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71147 Title 51 of the Oklahoma Statutes. The special election called by
72148 the Governor shall be subject to the following provis ions:
73-
74149 1. A Special Primary, Runoff Primary and General Election shall
75150 be held concurrently with the next available regularly scheduled
76151 statewide Primary, Runoff Primary and General El ection, and a
77152 special candidate filing period shall be on the same dates as the
78153 regular candidate filing period for those elections;
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80154 2. Provided, if a vacancy occurs in an even-numbered year on or
81155 before March 1, then the special election, if necessary, s hall be
82156 held that same year in the manner provided in paragraph 1 of thi s
83157 subsection. However, if the vacancy occurs after March 1 in an
84158 even-numbered year, then the special election shall be held at the
85159 next subsequent regularly scheduled statewide regul ar Primary,
86160 Runoff Primary and General Elections;
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88161 3. Provided, if the vacant office is already scheduled to be
89162 filled for a full term at the next availabl e regularly scheduled
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92163 election, then no special election sh all be called. In such case,
93164 the candidate elected to the office at the regularly scheduled
94165 election shall be dee med to also have been elected to fill the
95166 vacancy and shall be eligible to assume t he office upon the official
96167 certification of the election b y the State Election Board.
97-
98168 4. An irrevocable resignation shall occur when a member of the
99169 United States Senate from Oklahoma provides a written letter of
100170 resignation to the Secretary of State as provided in Sec tion 12-119
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101197 of this title that serves notice of the Senate member ’s resignation
102198 on a date certain.
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104199 D. The proclamation required by Section 12-102 of this title
105200 shall serve as the Writ of Election described in this section.
106-
107201 SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 51 O.S. 2011, Section 10, is
108202 amended to read as follows:
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110203 Section 10. A. All vacancies in state offices, except in
111204 offices of the members of the Legislature , and members of the House
112205 of Representatives from Oklahoma in the Congress of the United
113206 States of America and members of the Senate of the Unite d States of
114207 America, shall be filled by appointme nt by the Governor.
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116208 B. When a vacancy occurs in the office of district j udge,
117209 associate district judge, or judge of any intermediate appellate
118210 court, the Governor shall, in filling such vacancy, utilize the
119211 services of the Judicial Nominating Commission i n the manner as
120212 provided for in the filling of judicial offices under Sec tion 4,
121213 Article 7B VII-B of the Oklahoma Constitution.
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123214 C. When a vacancy occ urs in the office of a member of the
124215 United States Senate from Oklahoma, the Governor shall, within
125216 thirty (30) days of occurrence of the vacancy:
126-
127217 1. Appoint a person eligible to hold such office, who has been
128218 a registered voter of the party of the prede cessor in Oklahoma for
129219 at least five (5) years preceding the date that the vacancy was
130220 created, to serve in such office until a successor is elected; and
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132247 2. Call a special electio n, if necessary, to fill such vacancy,
133248 as provided in Section 12 -101 of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
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136-
137249 D. Prior to an appointment pursuant to paragraph 1 of
138250 subsection C of this section, a person who is a prospective
139251 appointee shall submit to the Secretary of State an oath affirming
140252 that the person will not file as a candidate for the office when it
141253 next appears on the ballot. The Secretary of State shall prescribe
142254 the oath required by this paragraph, and any oath submitted shall be
143255 public record and published on the website of the Office of the
144256 Secretary of State.
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146257 B. E. All vacancies in county offices except the board o f
147258 county commissioners or except for any elective county of fice of any
148259 county in the State of Oklahoma having a p opulation of more than six
149260 hundred thousand (600,000), according to the latest Federal
150261 Decennial Census shall be filled by appointment by the b oard of
151262 county commissioners. If such an appointment is ma de prior to the
152263 prescribed filing period for county of ficers in accordance with the
153264 provisions of Section 131 of Title 19 of the Oklahoma Sta tutes, the
154265 county commissioners shall, at the time said the appointment is
155266 made, proclaim a special election to fil l the balance of the
156267 unexpired term, providing the bal ance of the term does not expire in
157268 the year following the next succeeding general elec tion. In making
158269 the proclamation, the county commission ers shall establish the da tes
159270 for the filing period, primar y election, runoff primary election and
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160297 general election to be the same as the next succeeding filing
161298 period, primary election, runoff primar y election and general
162299 election for county officers. Th e appointee shall be eligi ble to
163300 become a candidate at said the special election, providing said the
164301 appointee is otherwise qualified. The office to be filled shall be
165302 printed on the same ballot as o ther county offices.
166-
167303 SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law not to be
168304 codified in the Okla homa Statutes reads as follows:
169-
170305 The provisions of this act shall not be severable. If any
171306 provision of this act is found to be unconstituti onal and void, the
172307 remaining provisions of the act shall also be void.
173-
174308 SECTION 4. It being immediately necessary for the pr eservation
175309 of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
176310 declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
177311 be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
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180-
181-
182-Passed the Senate the 25th day of May, 2021.
183-
184-
185-
186- Presiding Officer of the Senate
187-
188-
189-Passed the House of Representatives the 27th day of May, 2021.
190-
191-
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193- Presiding Officer of the House
194- of Representatives
195-
196-OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
197-Received by the Office of the Governor this _______ _____________
198-day of _________________ __, 20_______, at _______ o'cl ock _______ M.
199-By: _______________________________ __
200-Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _____ ____
201-day of _________________ __, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
202-
203- _________________________________
204- Governor of the State of Oklahom a
205-
206-
207-OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
208-Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this _______ ___
209-day of __________________, 20 _______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
210-By: _______________________________ __
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