Bill would clarify terms for new college trustees

GILLETTE (WNE) — All seven Gillette Community College District trustees have gone without defined term lengths since election night. But that may change soon.
Existing Wyoming law does not clarify how to determine which of the seven elected Gillette Community College District trustees are assigned two-year terms and which are assigned four-year terms because all of their term lengths began simultaneously after the election that birthed the district last summer.
But during the ongoing Wyoming Legislature budget session, lawmakers have a bill proposing a solution to that issue.
Senate File 43 calls for those initial seven trustees to begin each of their terms the day after the initial election and continue until Dec. 1 following the next regular election of trustees.
The legislation would apply to future community college districts as well, but for the seven inaugural GCCD trustees it applies to now, their terms would have begun the day after they were elected and expire Dec. 1, 2024.
After the initial election, the legislation proposes that the top four vote-getters of the 2024 election would receive four-year terms, while the other three elected trustees would get two-year terms.
The next election of trustees would occur during “the second succeeding general election” after the initial election of trustees.
Voters passed GCCD and elected its seven trustees on Aug. 17, 2021. This November marks the first election since the creation of the board, meaning the next election of trustees would come in November 2024, with all seven seats again up for grabs.
 
This story was published on March 1.