Appointments & Elections
Upon the election or appointment of new board members, the board’s chair or secretary should notify the appropriate ICfL public library consultant so that the new trustees can begin receiving the ICfL newsletters and mailings. ICfL needs to know the new trustee’s name, who last held that board seat, the address where the new trustee would like to receive the Envoy, and the expiration year of the new trustee’s term. This information is used to maintain our mailing list and is not shared with anyone outside the agency.
The mayor and council appoint five city residents to govern a city library:
33-2604. BOARD OF TRUSTEES — APPOINTMENT — TERM OF OFFICE — COMPENSATION.
(1) For the government of such library there shall be a board of five (5) library trustees appointed by the mayor and council pursuant to section 50-210, Idaho Code, from among city residents. If the city government is organized pursuant to sections 50-801 through 50-813, Idaho Code, the city manager and the council shall appoint the board of trustees.
(2) Appointment to the board shall be made solely upon consideration of the ability of such appointees to serve the interests of the people, without regard to sex, age, race, nationality, religion, disability or political affiliation. A member of the city council, a mayor, or an appointed officer of the city shall not be one (1) of the five (5) appointed trustees of the library board, but each year the council shall appoint one (1) of its members to be a liaison to the board, without voting rights.
(3) The initial appointment of trustees shall be for terms of one (1), two (2), three (3), four (4) and five (5) years respectively. Subsequent appointments shall be made for five (5) years from the date of appointment, and until their successors are appointed.
(4) Members of the board shall serve without salary but may receive their actual and necessary budgeted expenses while engaged in authorized business of the library.
Five library district residents are elected by a vote of the people to govern a library district:
(1) Each library district shall be governed by a board of trustees of five (5) members elected or appointed as provided by law, who at the time of their selection and during their terms of office shall be qualified electors of the district and if trustee zones have been established under section 33-2718, Idaho Code, shall be a resident of the trustee zone. Trustees shall be elected at each trustee election, held on the uniform election date in May. The regular term of a trustee shall be for six (6) years, or until his successor has been elected and qualified. Within ten (10) days after his appointment an appointed trustee shall qualify and assume the duties of his office. An elected trustee shall qualify and assume the duties of his office at the annual meeting. All trustees qualify by taking the oath of office required of state officers, to be administered by one (1) of the present trustees or by a trustee retiring.”
2010 was the last year trustee elections were to be conducted by the library district. In 2011, the county began conducting trustee elections.
How to Determine Six-Year Terms for a Board of Five Trustees
District library trustees are elected by the residents of the district to serve six-year terms. Trustee elections are always held on the uniform election date in May of odd-numbered years. The regular term of a trustee is for six (6) years, or until his successor has been elected and qualified.
In order to accommodate six-year terms for five trustees, there will be one trustee term expiring in a given year, two trustee terms expiring two years later, and two trustee terms expiring two years after that. It is a good idea to maintain a spreadsheet to keep track of these terms. Label the five seats as a), b), c), d), and e) will be much easier than labeling them using trustees’ names. This way, if the board declares a vacancy, it is still clear that the newly appointed trustee will be completing the six-year term of the departing trustee.
For example:
Within ten (10) days after his appointment an appointed trustee shall qualify and assume the duties of his office. An elected trustee shall qualify and assume the duties of his office at the annual meeting, which is the first regular meeting in June. All trustees qualify by taking the oath of office required of state officers, to be administered by one (1) of the present trustees or by a trustee retiring.
Oath of Office for a District Library Trustee
I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case my be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Idaho, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of library district Trustee according to the best of my ability.”
See chapter 4, title 59, Idaho Code for more information.
Resources
- Idaho Secretary of State – Forms & Links are found at the end.
Board Vacancies
Occasionally, a board position will become vacant before a trustee’s term has ended.
When a City Library Has a Board Vacancy
33-2605. BOARD OF TRUSTEES — VACANCIES — REMOVAL.
The board shall report all vacancies to the council within five (5) working days. All such appointments shall be made in the same manner as appointments are originally made. Appointments to complete an unexpired term shall be for the remainder of the term only.
Any trustee may be removed by the city council by the unanimous vote of all of its members.
How Is a Replacement Named?
“All such appointments shall be made in the same manner as appointments are originally made” refers to I.C. § 33-2604, “appointed by the mayor and city council.”
When Does a Vacancy Occur?
Although Idaho Code 33-2605 does not list specific reasons for declaring a vacancy on a city library board, likely situations would be
- When a trustee has died
- When a trustee has resigned
- When a trustee is no longer a resident of the library’s service area (i.e., has moved outside of the city limits)
- When a trustee has been appointed but refuses to serve
- When, without an excuse acceptable to other board members, a trustee has missed multiple board meetings, especially when these absences have resulted in the lack of a quorum. In this case, the board may ask the trustee in question to resign from the board of library trustees. It is then up to the trustee whether or not to comply with that request.
How long is the replacement trustee’s term?
According to Idaho Code 33-2605, “Appointments to complete an unexpired term shall be for the remainder of the term only.”
A term on a city library board is always for five years and until a successor is appointed. A trustee appointed to fill a vacancy is appointed only for the remainder of that five-year term. For this reason, it is easier to keep track of the expiration dates of each of the five board terms, and not of individual trustees’ time on the board.
With five trustees, each serving a five-year term, there should be one board term expiring each year. This is easy to keep track of on a simple spreadsheet in which the board positions are labeled a), b), c), d), e).
When a Library District Has a Board Vacancy
According to 33-2716(3), “A vacancy shall be declared by the board of trustees when any nominee has been elected but has failed to qualify for office, or within thirty (30) days of when any trustees shall (a) die; (b) resign from office; (c) no longer reside in his respective trustee zone of residence; (d) no longer be a resident or qualified elector of the public library district; (e) refuse to serve as trustee; (f) without excuse acceptable to the board of trustees, fail to attend two (2) consecutive regular meetings of the board; or (g) be recalled and discharged from office as provided in this chapter.”
How is a replacement named?
The board must declare that a vacancy exists within 30 days of the date the trustee is no longer on the board for any of the above-mentioned reasons. This must be done at either a regular or a special board meeting. The board then has 60 days to name a replacement. If the library board does not appoint a replacement within that 60-day window, the county commissioners of the district’s home county6 are required by law to do so.
6 “Home county” means the county where the designated district headquarters is located when a public library district’s boundaries include territory located in more than one (1) county. [I.C. § 33-2702(3)]
How long is the replacement trustee’s term?
According to Idaho Code section 33-2716, “Any person appointed as provided in this chapter shall serve until the next election of public library district trustees following the appointment. At the election a trustee shall be elected to complete the unexpired term of the office which was declared vacant filled by appointment.”
A term on a district library board is always for six years and until a temporary successor is appointed. That appointed temporary trustee serves until the next election of public library trustee following the appointment.
Elections for library district trustees are held on the uniform election date in May [I.C. § 33-2715(1)] of odd-numbered years [I.C. § 33-2715(2)]
With five trustees, each serving a six-year term, there should be two board terms expiring one odd-numbered year, two board terms expiring the following odd-numbered year, and one board term expiring the following odd-numbered year.
It is easier to keep track of the expiration dates of each of the five board terms, and not of individual trustees’ time on the board. This task will be much more easily accomplished by using a spreadsheet application.