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Committee hears bill to bar counties from stripping election duties midterm
Summary
Senator Ryan Trevis, sponsor and Senator for Senate District 10, told the House State Administration Committee that Senate Bill 128 would prevent a county governing body from removing election-administration duties from a county clerk and recorder during that clerk’s current elected term.
Senator Ryan Trevis, sponsor and Senator for Senate District 10, told the House State Administration Committee that Senate Bill 128 would prevent a county governing body from removing election-administration duties from a county clerk and recorder during that clerk’s current elected term.
“Senate bill 128 is a short bill, 1 page, and it's an act prohibiting county governing bodies for removing election administration duties from the county clerk and recorder during the county clerk and recorder's term in office,” Senator Trevis said.
The bill would leave two routes for changing who administers elections, Trevis said: the elected clerk and recorder may voluntarily relinquish those duties, or the duties may be changed between terms. Trevis described the measure as intended to protect what he called voter expectations when electing a clerk and recorder.
Committee members asked how the proposal would interact with existing oversight and remedies when elections are mismanaged. Trevis said voters face electoral consequences and pointed to existing legal tools (including recalls and court remedies) if an official’s conduct were “egregious,” and he emphasized the bill is not retroactive.
No proponents or opponents were present in the hearing room or online for SB 128, and no informational witnesses offered an analysis at the hearing. The committee did not take a recorded vote during the hearing; Trevis closed after questions and the committee moved on to its next item.
The transcript shows Trevis tied the bill to a local example in Cascade County where a newly elected clerk and recorder had election duties moved by a county commission within a year of taking office; Trevis said the change led to large public interest at a county hearing.
The bill text as described would preserve the clerk-and-recorder’s election-administration duties for the current term unless the officeholder voluntarily gives them up or the duties are changed between terms. The committee recorded no formal action on SB 128 at the conclusion of the hearing.
