Pittsburgh, PA
The Legal Intelligencer
(by Michael Korns and Anna Hosack)
With election season just around the corner, Pennsylvania municipalities often face the issue of municipal vacancies. While some municipalities have highly contested elections, others, particularly small boroughs, may struggle to find individuals even willing to serve. Municipalities often have questions regarding the rules for these openings, which follow rules from multiple statutes and codes. To add to the confusion, the rules for filling vacancies differ greatly depending on the type of municipality and the exact timing of when the vacancy occurs. This article provides a broad overview of how vacancies occur, how they are filled, and for how long the new official will serve.
How Vacancies Occur
Vacancies on municipal governing bodies can occur in several ways. Most commonly, they occur due to the death, resignation, or relocation of the elected official. The timing of the vacancy depends on the cause. Where a vacancy occurs by the death of an elected official, the official and operative date of the vacancy is the date of death. Where a vacancy occurs by resignation, the date of the vacancy is either (i) on the date the municipality’s governing body accepts the resignation as a whole by vote at a public meeting or (ii) 45 days from the date the resignation was tendered, whichever comes first. An elected official may withdraw their resignation in writing prior to the governing body’s acceptance, so long as 45 days have not passed.
Relocations are the trickiest vacancies to date, as in those cases, the vacancy occurs when the elected official has established a permanent domicile outside of the municipality. Most commonly, the operative date of vacancy is the date they moved into a new home. …