The November 3rd General Election is behind us. Now before us is the opportunity to establish or renew connections with county officials who won their respective races.
Before we know it, they'll be taking office and beginning the work of governing. As representatives of the ag industry, we'll want to have their ear in the future - making it important that we start communicating with them now.
Not all of your local county officials were up for election on November 3. And in offices that were up for election, not all of them will have new people serving.
So, which of your local county officials were up for election? The Illinois Election Code (10 ILCS 5/) requires certain offices to be on the ballot in even-numbered years. On November 3, those positions included?
• County board members - Elected every even-numbered year to succeed members whose terms expire prior to the next general election.
• County commissioners - Elected every general election to succeed commissioners whose terms expire before the next general election.
• County auditors, county recorders and county coroners in counties that elect them. These offices will all be up for election again in 2024.
• Circuit clerks and state's attorneys - These offices will be up for election in 2024.
Countywide offices up for election in November 2022 will include:
• County assessor in counties that elect this office.
• Members of the board of appeals in applicable counties.
• County Clerk
• Sheriff
• Country treasurer
Your newly-elected county board members and commissioners will take office on the first Monday of the month following the month of the election. This year, that falls on December 7.
Newly-elected countywide office holders will start their duties on the first day of December following their election on which the official's office is requested to be open. For most, that will be Tuesday, December 1.
In many counties structured under the township form of government, the first county meeting in the month following the month of the election, is often known as the county organizational meeting. During this meeting, many county board will, unless the chairman is elected by the voters of the county, choose a chairman and a vice-chairman. IT is then common practice for the new chairman to assign a committee structure and appoint board members to serve on those committees. These assignments are subject to majority approval of the county board members.
Once your local officials complete these obligatory duties, you can welcome these obligatory duties, you can welcome them into office. Don't let this opportune time get past you. Soon you-and they-will be caught up in the busy holiday season. It doesn't take much to get started on the right foot-or the wrong one.
Source: Illinois Farm Bureau, LINK: Local Information, News & Know-How
November/December 2020: Newly Elected Officials
Comments