Section 7-1-35 - [Effective 7/1/2028] Appointment of officers[From and after January 1, 2028, this section shall read as follows:]
(1) Unless otherwise provided by law, all appointments to agencies, boards, commissions, director or executive director positions whose term is expiring shall serve until his or her successor is appointed and qualified, but in no event shall he or she serve past the July 1 occurring after the end of his term, unless he shall be reappointed by the Governor or other appointing authority.(2) The Secretary of State shall be the records repository for all appointments to boards, commissions, executive directors and agency directors. Appointing authorities shall notify the Secretary of State prior to submitting the appointment to the Senate. The Secretary of State shall send a list of the required appointments to boards, commissions, executive directors and agency directors whose terms are expiring or have been vacated prior to the next legislative session to the appointing authorities by December 15 preceding the legislative session. The Secretary of State shall also compile and issue a report to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House annually, detailing the number of official meetings each board and commission has held in the previous years.(3) If, for any cause, a vacancy occurs in the office of an appointed agency, board, or commission member, executive director or director position, the appointing authority shall make an appointment to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term within one hundred eighty (180) days of the date the vacancy occurs.(4) Interim appointments shall be allowed to serve for no more than nine (9) months. No interim appointee may serve consecutive interim terms. If an appointment occurs in vacation of the legislative session, it shall be considered an interim appointment until confirmed by the Senate.(5) Unless otherwise provided by law, an appointed agency, board or commission member may be removed by the Governor or other appointing authority for chronic absenteeism, which shall consist of more than three (3) unexcused absences in any one (1) year, and such person shall not be reappointed until their original term has expired. This provision is not applicable to meetings where a designee has attended in place of the agency, board or commission member if the attendance by a designee is authorized by law.(6) All appointments to an agency, board, commission or director position made in vacation of the legislative session shall be reported to the Senate within ten (10) days after the commencement of the next regular session of that body for its advice and consent to the appointment. Any vacancy to an agency, board, commission, executive director or director position shall not be filled if caused by the Senate's refusal to confirm or the Senate's inaction on the nomination, unless the vacancy occurs during the last five (5) days of the session. Any appointment in vacation of the Senate to which the Senate shall refuse to consent or takes no action shall be thereby annulled from the date of sine die adjournment, but the acts of the appointee prior thereto shall not be affected thereby.(7) Unless otherwise provided by law, all appointment procedures, term of office provisions, vacancy provisions, interim appointment provisions and removal provisions specifically provided for in this Section 7-1-35 shall be fully applicable to the appointment of agency directors by the Governor or by the respective board or commission.Codes, 1871, § 106; 1880, § 199; 1892, § 2168; 1906, § 2384; Hemingway's 1917, § 4776; 1930, § 4828; 1942, § 3986; Laws, 1886, p. 161.Amended by Laws, 2024, ch. 497, SB 2799,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2028.This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.