Elective Office in Local Government
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Elective Office in Local Government > ready > set > succeed newPA.com Elective Office in Local Government Eleventh Edition September 2010 Comments or inquiries on the subject matter of this publica tion should be addressed to: Gov er nor’s Cen ter for Lo cal Gov ern ment Ser vices De part ment of Com mu nity and Eco nomic De vel op ment Com mon wealth Key stone Build ing 400 North Street, 4th Floor Har ris burg, Penn syl va nia 17120-0225 (717) 787-8158 1-888-223-6837 E-mail: [email protected] This and other publica tions are available for viewing or downloading free-of-charge from he Department of Commu nity and Economic Devel op ment web site. Printed copies may be ordered and purchased through a private vendor as indicated on the web site. Ac cess www.newPA.com Se lect Get Local Gov Support Se lect Pub li ca tions No liability is assumed with respect to the use of informa tion contained in this publica tion. Laws may be amended or court rulings made that could affect a particular procedure, issue or interpre ta tion. The Department of Commu nity and Economic Devel op ment assumes no responsi bility for errors and omissions nor any liability for damages resulting from the use of informa tion contained herein. Please contact your local solicitor for legal advise. Prepa ration of this publica tion was financed from appropri a tions of the General Assembly of the Common wealth of Pennsyl vania. Copyright © 2010, Pennsylvania Department of Commu nity and Economic Devel op ment, all rights reserved. Foreword There are nearly 30,000 elected offices in Penn sylva nia local govern ment — county, munic i pal and school. The men and women who fill these of fices make im portant de cisions about the future of their com mu nities. They set poli cies on schools, land use and the appro pri ate level of local gov ernment services. Every mu nici pal election year, a very large num ber of pub lic-spirited citi zens consider running for lo cal office. The purpose of this publi ca tion is to gather together, in a single place, im portant in forma tion about elective gov ernment offices in Penn sylva nia. The book outlines what offices are filled by election in each type of local unit and for how long, who may or may not run for of fice, how va cancies are filled and how offi cials can be removed before the end of their terms. Table of Contents I. Gen eral Pro vi sions ..........................................................1 Dis qual i fi ca tion by Crim i nal Con vic tion .......................................1 Removal from Office ......................................................2 Res ig na tion and Re ap point ment..............................................2 In com pat i bil ity ...........................................................2 Fam ily Re la tion ships ......................................................2 II. County Of fices..............................................................4 Elec tive Of fices ..........................................................4 Term of Office ...........................................................4 Qual i fi ca tions ............................................................4 In com pat i ble Of fices ......................................................5 Va can cies ...............................................................6 III. Third Class City Offices ......................................................8 Elec tive Of fices ..........................................................8 Term of Office ...........................................................8 Qual i fi ca tions ............................................................8 In com pat i ble Of fices ......................................................8 Va can cies ...............................................................9 IV. Bor ough Of fices............................................................11 Elec tive Of fices .........................................................11 Term of Office ..........................................................11 Qual i fi ca tions ...........................................................11 In com pat i ble Of fices .....................................................12 Va can cies ..............................................................12 Removal for Fail ure to Attend Meetings ......................................13 V. First Class Town ship Of fices .................................................14 Elec tive Of fices .........................................................14 Term of Office ..........................................................14 Qual i fi ca tions ...........................................................14 In com pat i ble Of fices .....................................................14 Va can cies ..............................................................15 Judi cial Re moval for Fail ure to Perform Duties .................................15 VI. Second Class Township Offices ...............................................17 Elec tive Of fices .........................................................17 Term of Office ..........................................................17 Qual i fi ca tions ...........................................................17 In com pat i ble............................................................17 Va can cies ..............................................................18 Judi cial Re moval for Fail ure to Perform Duties .................................18 VII. Con sta bles ................................................................20 Elec tion and Term of Office ................................................20 Qual i fi ca tions ...........................................................20 In com pat i ble Of fices .....................................................20 Va can cies ..............................................................20 Removal from Office .....................................................21 VIII.School Dis trict Of fices ......................................................22 Elec tive Of fices .........................................................22 Term of Office ..........................................................22 Qual i fi ca tions ...........................................................22 In com pat i ble Of fices .....................................................22 Va can cies ..............................................................22 Removal From Office .....................................................23 Ad di tional Pub li ca tions for Lo cal Of fi cials ....................................24 I. General Provisions In general, Pennsyl vania local governments are small operations. More than 77 percent of the state's 2,562 munici pal i ties serve popula tions of less than 5,000. In such govern ments, local elected officials often are citizens who serve on a volunteer basis and whose chief occupation and expertise is in some other field. In its role of providing informa tion and assistance to local governments, the Governor’s Center for Local Govern ment Services has devel oped a series of handbooks and manuals. This publica tion lists the various elected offices in each type of local government, their terms, qualifi ca tions and incom pati bility, how vacancies are filled and procedures for removal from office. These issues are the ones most often raised by local officials, candi dates and citizens. The publi cation begins with a discussion of general provisions that affect all types of local governments equally. Then a series of sections describes the provi sions specific to each type of government. In the final section there is a listing of publi cations which set out in detail the powers and duties of elective local govern ment offices. Disqualification by Criminal Conviction Article II, Section 7 of the Pennsylvania Consti tution prohibits persons convicted of embezzle ment of public monies, bribery, perjury or other infamous crimes from holding any office of trust or profit in the Common wealth. This prohibi tion extends to include local government offices. Conviction is held to occur at the time a court sentences the defendant on the basis of a guilty verdict. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held this provision of the Constitu tion is self-operating.1 Individuals convicted of these crimes can also be removed from office by quo warranto actions.2 Challenge to candidate petitions is also an appro priate method to deter mine disqual i fi ca tion under this section.3 The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has moved away from the old pattern of distinguishing between crimes in respect to the ability to hold the public trust and other unrelated crimes. In 2000, the Court ruled that “a crime is infamous for purposes of Article II, Section 7, if its underlying facts estab lish a felony, a crimen falsi offense, or a like offense involving the charge of falsehood that effects the public adminis tra tion of justice.”4 Crimen falsi is defined as referring to crimes in the nature of perjury or subordi na tion of perjury, false state ment, criminal fraud, embez zle ment, false pretense or any other offense which involves some element of deceitful ness, untruthful ness or falsifi ca tion bearing on a witness’ propensity to testify truthfully. 5 Removal from Office All elected officials in Pennsyl vania, including county, municipal and school district officials are subject to an exclu sive method for removal estab lished in Article VI, Sections 6 and 7of the Pennsyl vania Consti tution. 6 Elected officials