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House Bill 152 would let voters indicate "do not retain" for unopposed county attorney races
Summary
Sponsor told the committee the bill would place a "do not retain" option on ballots when only one candidate seeks the county attorney office; opponents from rural counties warned the change could make it harder to keep attorneys in sparsely populated counties.
Representative Jerry Schillinger introduced House Bill 152 to allow voters to indicate "do not retain" on the ballot when there is only one candidate for county attorney, aligning the process with some judicial retention practices.
"It's an opportunity to make the county attorney elections on the ballot the same as a lot of judicial elections," Schillinger said, calling the bill "relatively simple." He offered an amendment (hb0152.001.001) after learning the Secretary of State's office lacked authority to administer the change as originally drafted; the amendment moves the provision to a statutory location the sponsor said would be administrable.
No proponents appeared on the bill. Two county commissioners testified as opponents. Todd Devlin, a Prairie County commissioner, said his county's current county attorney is working to keep the county out of lawsuits by advising on zoning and that the ballot change could allow rumors or political pressure to remove a necessary official. "We got a really good county attorney right now...and he's trying to keep us out of trouble," Devlin said.
Roosevelt County Commissioner Gordon Oelkers said it is difficult to recruit attorneys in some counties and that allowing a "do not retain" option where only one person runs could leave counties without counsel.
Committee members asked procedural questions. Vice Chair Quarton and Representative Lee expressed concern about the bill's targeted scope and whether similar ballot options should apply to other uncontested races. Representative Lee asked what would happen if voters did not retain an incumbent and no other candidate was available; Schillinger replied that the county commissioners would follow the ordinary appointment process to fill a vacancy.
Schillinger closed by urging committee support, but no committee vote or formal action was recorded during the hearing.
Opponents emphasized the operational challenges small counties face in recruiting and retaining attorneys and the risk of leaving a county without counsel if an incumbent is not retained and no replacement is available.
