Can A Wyoming Mayor Be Recalled?
Recently the mayor of Evansville Wyoming stepped down. Up in Gillette, a group of outraged citizens have demanded that the entire city council, along with the mayor, also step down.
That leaves us with the question of what can be done when enough people in a town demand the removal of one or more of their elected officials.
From the website BallotPedia:
In Wyoming, the right of recall extends to any elected officer of a city or town that is operating under the commission form of government.
It does not extend to county officials, officials of special districts, members of school boards, members of the Wyoming State Legislature, representatives from Wyoming to the U.S. Congress or to statewide constitutional officers such as the Governor of Wyoming.
Reading Wyo. Stat. §15-4-110 one will find that the law does not require any specific events to have taken place for a recall. However, the petition must state what grounds are motivating the recall.
This statute applies to "cities and charter counties whether or not they have adopted recall provisions."
From the text of Wyo. Stat. §15-4-110:
(a) Any elected officer may be removed at any time by the qualified electors in the following manner: a petition signed by at least twenty-five percent (25%) of all the registered electors and demanding an election of a successor of the person sought to be removed shall be filed with the city clerk. The petition shall contain a general statement of the grounds for removal. The signatures to the petition need not all be appended to one.
(c) In any removal election the candidate receiving the highest number of votes is elected. The incumbent shall be removed from office upon the qualification of his successor, who shall hold office during the unexpired portion of the term for which his predecessor was elected. If the person who receives the highest number of votes fails to qualify within ten (10) days after receiving notification of election the office is vacant. This method of removal is in addition to any other methods provided by law.