The following offices will be up for election in 2013 and will be set by the City Council with the passage of its annual election ordinance on October 1, 2012. If you wish to see which City Council Members will be up for election, go to the web page containing the names and term expiration dates for each Council Member. The Municipal Judge and Prosecutor terms also come up for election every two years.
Elections for City offices are established by our City Charter and Chapter 12 of the City Code. Officials are elected every year. The Mayor is elected for four years, with an eight-year term limit; City Council members are elected for staggered two-year terms, and are also subject to term limitation of eight-years; the Municipal Judge and City Prosecutor are both elected to two-year terms, and there are are no term limits for either of those two offices.
Type of Elections: The elections are non-partisan, as approved by the voters in April, 2002.
Vacancies in Office
When a Council Member resigns or dies while still in office, candidates are nominated, and a Council Member is subsequently elected by the remaining Council Members to serve for the rest of that Council year (which runs April to April). The person elected to fill the vacancy would then need to file to run for the seat at the next regular election. The period of months served before the next April election does not count towards the total eight-year term limit.
When a vacancy occurs in the offices of Municipal Judge or Prosecutor, the Mayor appoints, with the approval of the Council, a person to fill out the remainder of the election year. The appointee may then file to run for office at the next regular election.
Elections for the City of Jefferson are conducted by the Cole and Callaway County Clerks, but the ballots containing all City issues and candidates are prepared and are certified to the Counties by the City Clerk in accordance with state election laws. The City reimburses the Counties for its share of the cost to conduct elections.
How to File for Office
The City Code requires that the candidate have three endorsements from registered voters (see Candidate Endorsement Form below) in the area the candidate wishes to serve before he or she files for office.
NOTE: After the required three endorsements have been received and verified by the City Clerk, the candidate must then file for office in person by completing a Declaration of Candidacy form in the City Clerk's office during the legal filing period in order for his or her candidacy to become official. The following are samples of the Declaration of Candidacy forms forinformational purposes only. The original Declaration form must be filled out before the City Clerk or Deputy City Clerk during the filing period.
