Positions Available

 
Generally, during a candidate election, the office of mayor, a 2-year term, and three 4-year councilmember positions are open for candidacy. Occasionally, there will be a 2-year term for councilmember due to an opening created by a vacancy. In 2022, there will be no 2-year positions on the ballot. In elections in which there is a 2-year position, candidates, at the time of picking up nomination petitions, are required to designate whether they intend to run for a 2-year or 4-year term.

Qualifications

 

  1. A candidate for local office must be a qualified elector at the time of filing the nomination paper.
  2. Candidates must be eighteen years of age or over.
  3. Candidates must have resided in the town for one year preceding the election. This one-year residency requirement also permits persons living in an area that is annexed to a city or town less than one year prior to the election to qualify as a candidate if they meet all other requirements for candidates. To meet all other requirements, such candidates must still have resided for one year prior to the election in the area, which was subsequently annexed.
  4. A person convicted of a felony or treason cannot serve as a councilmember until his/her civil rights have been restored.
  5. A person adjudicated as an "incapacitated person" cannot be a candidate.
  6. A person cannot be a candidate for more than one public office if the elections for those offices are held on the same day and if the person would be prohibited from serving in the offices simultaneously.

Members of the Legislature

 
A member of the State Legislature is prohibited from holding office in a city or town. The only offices a legislator may hold while serving as a member of the Legislature are school trustee, teacher or instructor.

Federal Civilian Employees

Generally, employees in the Executive Branch of the Federal Government may not take an active part in political management or in political campaigns. However, they may run for local office or participate in non-party local elections in which party designation and nomination are completely absent.