TITLE 31

COUNTIES AND COUNTY LAW

CHAPTER 39

AMBULANCE SERVICE

31-3912.  ambulance service district commissioners — subdistricts — Term of office — Vacancies. (1) At the meeting of the board of county commissioners at which the ambulance service district is declared organized, as provided in section 31-3911, Idaho Code, the county commissioners shall divide the ambulance service district into three (3) subdivisions, as nearly equal in population, area, and mileage as practicable, to be known as ambulance service commissioner subdistricts 1, 2, and 3. No more than one (1) of the ambulance service district commissioners shall be a resident of the same ambulance service subdistrict. The first commissioners appointed by the board of county commissioners shall serve until the next ambulance service district election, at which time their successors shall be elected. On the first Tuesday following the first Monday of November, of the next odd-numbered year following the organization of an ambulance service district, three (3) ambulance service district commissioners shall be elected. The term of office for ambulance service commissioners shall commence on the second Monday of January succeeding each general election. Commissioners appointed or elected must be electors residing within the ambulance service district for at least one (1) year immediately preceding their appointment or election. At the first election following organization of an ambulance service district, the commissioner from ambulance service subdistrict 1 shall be elected to a term of two (2) years and the commissioners from subdistricts 2 and 3 shall be elected to a term of four (4) years; thereafter, the term of office of all commissioners shall be four (4) years. For commissioners whose term in office expires in any even-numbered year, such commissioners shall remain in office until the next election in an odd-numbered year. Such elections and all other elections held under this chapter shall be held in conformity with the general laws of the state including chapter 14, title 34, Idaho Code.

(2)  Any ambulance service commissioner vacancy occurring, other than by the expiration of the term of office, shall be filled by the board of ambulance service commissioners. If a duly elected or appointed ambulance service commissioner resigns, withdraws, becomes disqualified, refuses or, without first providing signed written notice of a temporary vacancy, becomes otherwise unable to perform the duties of office for longer than ninety (90) days, the board, on satisfactory proof of the vacancy, shall declare the office vacant. The board shall fill any vacancies within sixty (60) days of learning of the vacancy. When a vacancy occurs, the board shall direct the secretary to cause a notice of the vacancy to be published in at least one (1) issue of a newspaper of general circulation within the district. The notice shall include the date and time of the meeting when the board will vote to fill the vacancy and the deadline for qualified elector residents interested in being appointed to the position to submit a written request for appointment to the board. Should the remaining members of the board fail to agree on an individual to fill the vacancy, it shall select the individual by placing the names of all interested persons who received the highest and equal number of votes in a container. The ambulance service commissioner with the most continuous length of service shall draw one (1) name from the container. The person whose name is drawn shall then be appointed to fill the vacancy.

(3)  If more than fifty percent (50%) of the elected official seats on an ambulance service district board of commissioners are vacant, any remaining member of the ambulance service district board of commissioners, or any elector of the ambulance service district, may petition the board of county commissioners of the county or counties in which the subdistrict vacancies are situated to make such appointments as are necessary to fill the vacancies on the ambulance service district board of commissioners. The vacancies shall be filled by the board or boards of county commissioners within sixty (60) days of receiving a written petition. Any ambulance service commissioner so appointed shall serve out the remainder of the term for the commissioner last serving in the vacant seat to be filled and shall be a resident of the same ambulance service commissioner’s subdistrict.

(4)  The board of ambulance service district commissioners may revise subdistricts when they deem it necessary due to significant shifts in population. The board of ambulance service district commissioners shall revise subdistricts upon any annexation of territory into the district and, in any case, within six (6) months following the end of each decennial United States census reporting year so as to equalize the population, area, and mileage between the subdistricts as nearly as practicable. Of the commissioners comprising the board, no more than one (1) commissioner shall be a resident of the same ambulance service commissioner’s subdistrict. The revision of subdistricts shall not disqualify any elected commissioner from the completion of the term for which he has been duly elected. Notice of revised ambulance service commissioner subdistricts shall be provided to the county clerk of the county or counties in which the changes occur by means of a resolution that includes a map depicting the revised subdistrict boundaries.

(5)  In any election for ambulance service district commissioner, if, after the deadline for filing a declaration of intent as a write-in candidate, it appears that only one (1) qualified candidate has been nominated for a subdistrict to be filled, it shall not be necessary for the candidate of that subdistrict to stand for election, and the board of the ambulance service district commissioners shall declare such candidate elected as commissioner, and the secretary of the district shall immediately make and deliver to such person a certificate of election.

(6)  The results of any election for ambulance service district commissioner shall be certified by the county clerk of the county or counties of the district and the results reported to the ambulance service district.

History:

[31-3912, added 2020, ch. 209, sec. 10, p. 608.]