Recall process underway for three of five Hamilton County Commissioners
AURORA, Neb. — Three out of five of the Hamilton County Commissioners are currently going through the recall process. This is after a successful recall of one commissioner back in February.
Petitions for two of the three commissioners are in circulation with distribution for the other commissioner not yet started.
On Oct. 7, petitions were requested for two of the county commissioners: Rich Nelson and Roger Nunnenkamp.
Then about a week later, a petition was requested for the third county commissioner, Becky Richter.
Reasons for the recall were stated on the petition filing form for all three commissioners, which included failure to represent constituents, failure to hire competent and trained employees and failure to address public safety issues. There was one additional reason on one filing involving a failure to inspect materials purchased that resulted in hazardous county road conditions.
"They will have 30 days to gather signatures of registered voters, and they will need to get 35% of registered voters from the last election," said County Clerk Jill DeMers
County Clerk Jill DeMers said Hamilton County is split into five districts with a commissioner for each district. Only those in that district can vote to recall their commissioner.
Districts 1, 2, and 5 are all undergoing the recall process.
"They would need for Becky Richter, 233; Rich Nelson, 241; and Roger Nunnenkamp, 251 signatures," said DeMers.
Once the petitions are submitted to the County Clerk, the clerk will have 15 days to verify signatures and determine if the process will continue.
Demers said if there are enough signatures, the elected official will be notified and the governing body will order an election between 50 and 80 days.
"An elected official has the option to resign up to 24 days prior to the election and if the official doesn't resign, a special recall election will happen," said DeMers. "With all three filing forms being filed relatively close, they'll all have different timelines and processing at different times, but they could possibly be on the same day."
Check back for updates on each recall process as they progress.
