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Employees in participating counties elect
board members for the County Employees' Retirement Fund. The
election process is governed by the Board’s Election Policy,
which addresses:
Section 50.1030 RSMo, Supp. 1999 provides that CERF's
Board of Directors shall consist of eleven members with no
more than one director representing the same elected county
office. Whenever a director’s term expires, the Association
to which the member is a member, may appoint a nominee to
fill that director’s position. Any elected county office
that does not have representation shall have the right to
have a representative nominated for election to the Board
that year.
Directors may be either currently employed or retired
members of the system. Individuals eligible to serve on the
Board include either an elected county official or an
employee of the county official’s office which does not have
representation on the Board or whose term is expiring at the
end of that calendar year.
Section 50.1030 states that the director’s terms expire
on December 31 of each year. Therefore, elections must occur
prior to December 31 of each year and must allow sufficient
time for the Board to meet and resolve a tie vote.
Because the statute allows all county employee members of
the system the right to vote by secret ballot in each
election for directors, voting will occur by mail ballot.
The Board, or its designee, shall prepare and mail ballots
to all members eligible to vote on or before September 15 of
each year. To be eligible for counting, ballots must be
received no later than midnight on October 15 of each year.
In the event that there is only one nominee for each vacant
Board position in any given year, then the Board shall not
distribute ballots that year and the nominees shall be
deemed to be elected to membership on the Board effective
January 1 of the following year.
Nominees for an open director’s position shall be placed
on the ballot in one of the following ways:
Nomination by Association
Any established and recognized association representing a
particular elected county office may nominate a candidate,
provided that office either does not have a representative
on the Board or has a representative on the Board whose term
is expiring at the end of the calendar year. The name of any
association nominee must be received by the Board for
inclusion on the ballot prior to midnight on August 15.
Nomination by Petition
Any member of the system eligible and qualified to be
elected to the Board may obtain a petition for nomination
from the Board. If the member collects one hundred fifty
(150) signatures, equally divided among the classes of
counties then existing in Missouri and having members who
belong to CERF, of individuals eligible to vote in support
of his or her candidacy and is otherwise qualified, then the
member shall be included on the ballot. Signatures will be
verified to ensure that those names appearing on the
petition are members of CERF. In order to be placed on the
ballot, a nominee must submit a petition which meets the
requirements outlined in this paragraph no later than August
31.
The Board shall tabulate and determine the validity of
the ballots no later than midnight on November 15.
In the event of a tie vote, a majority vote of the entire
sitting Board shall break the tie, except that a director
standing for reelection shall not vote on his or her own
seat.
If a member leaves office for any reason during his or
her term, the Board of Directors shall obtain a
recommendation from the Association representing the county
elected office vacated. The Board of Directors shall appoint
that person recommended to complete the remainder of the
term. In the event no recommendation is made within sixty
(60) days the Board shall name a replacement representing
the county elected office vacated to fill the remainder of
the term. |
