How Salina Would Fill a City Commission Vacancy

If Salina City Commissioner Jerry Ivey formally resigns and his seat becomes vacant, the mayor would not independently choose his replacement.

Instead, Kansas law generally places the responsibility for filling a municipal governing-body vacancy with the remaining members of the governing body.

Ivey announced his intention to resign during an interview with KSAL, but the City of Salina had not issued a formal announcement or publicly outlined a replacement process as of Monday afternoon. Salina311 contacted Commissioner Doug Rempp, who said no formal information regarding the resignation had been distributed at that time.

The city’s website also continued to list Ivey as a member of the Salina City Commission.

Remaining commissioners would vote

Kansas Statute 12-104a states that, unless a municipality has its own vacancy procedure, the remaining members of the governing body must appoint a replacement by majority vote within 60 days after a vacancy occurs.

Salina has a five-member City Commission. The commissioners are elected at large, and the commission selects one of its members each year to serve as mayor. The mayor remains a voting member of the commission rather than functioning as a separately elected executive.

If Ivey’s seat becomes vacant, four commissioners would remain:

Mayor Michael Hoppock

Commissioner Trent Davis

Commissioner Greg Lenkiewicz

Commissioner Doug Rempp

The mayor would participate in the process as one of the four remaining commissioners but would not have unilateral authority to make the appointment.

Under the state statute’s majority-vote requirement, an appointment by four remaining members would generally require at least three affirmative votes.

Applications are possible but not automatically required

The commission could choose to invite residents to submit applications or expressions of interest. Commissioners could also establish qualifications, review candidates or conduct interviews before voting.

However, Kansas Statute 12-104a does not itself require an application or interview process. Those procedural details would be determined by the city, subject to any applicable local ordinance, policy or legal requirement.

Any final appointment would need to be approved by the commission through formal action at a public meeting.

When would a special election occur?

A special election would not automatically be required when the vacancy occurs.

Under Kansas law, the remaining governing-body members generally have 60 days to appoint a replacement. If they do not make an appointment within that period, the governing body must adopt a resolution calling for a special election.

The special election would then be held within 45 days after the resolution is passed. The Saline County election officer would conduct the election, and the candidate receiving the most votes would take office after the election results are certified.

The statute also recognizes that some municipalities have adopted their own procedures for filling vacancies. The City of Salina has not yet publicly identified the specific process it would use in this case.

No vacancy exists until the resignation is formalized

The replacement process would not begin merely because Ivey announced his intention to resign during a media interview.

A vacancy would first need to be formally created through a valid resignation and its effective date. Until then, Ivey remains listed by the city as a sitting commissioner, and the commission remains a five-member governing body.

Once a vacancy officially exists, the city is expected to provide information about the timeline, application process, candidate qualifications and date on which the remaining commissioners could consider an appointment.

Salina311 will update this report when the City of Salina formally confirms the resignation or releases information regarding the process for filling the seat.