The county legislative authority in each county shall, at its next regular or special meeting after being appraised of any vacancy in any county, township, precinct, or road district office of the county, fill the vacancy by the appointment of some person qualified to hold such office, and the officers thus appointed shall hold office until the next general election, and until their successors are elected and qualified.

     If a vacancy occurs in a partisan county office after the general election in a year that the position appears on the ballot and before the start of the next term, the term of the successor who is of the same party as the incumbent may commence once he or she has qualified as defined in *RCW 29.01.135 and shall continue through the term for which he or she was elected.

[2003 c 238 § 1; 1963 c 4 § 36.16.110. Prior: 1927 c 163 § 1; RRS § 4059; prior: Code 1881 § 2689; 1867 p 57 § 28.]

NOTES:

     *Reviser's note: RCW 29.01.135 was recodified as RCW 29A.04.133 pursuant to 2003 c 111 § 2401, effective July 1, 2004.

     Contingent effective date -- 2003 c 238: "This act takes effect January 1, 2004, if the proposed amendment to Article II, section 15 of the state Constitution (HJR 4206) is validly submitted to and is approved and ratified by the voters at a general election held in November 2003. If the proposed amendment is not approved and ratified, this act is void in its entirety." [2003 c 238 § 5.] House Joint Resolution No. 4206 was approved by the voters on November 4, 2003.