House Joint Resolution 8 Term of office of county sheriff. Rep. Torr. This Constitutional amendment would lengthen the term of office of a county sheriff from 4 years to 6 years. The Sheriff would not be allowed to serve more than 12 years in any 18 year period. (Currently, the Sheriff like the Clerk, Auditor, Recorder, Treasurer, or Coroner is limited to 8 years of service in any 12 year period.) As a transitional matter, any sheriff elected in 2008 would serve until 2015 and any sheriff elected in 2010 would serve until 2017.
I guess I don’t have any burning opposition to this, but I also don’t see any burning need that requires us monkeying around with the Constitution. Anybody know what the impetus for this is?
To make county sheriffs less accountable to the public.
Rep. Torr: BAD
To reduce election costs to candidates especially incumbents most likely to win?
If an election cost $400,000 it would average $100,000 for 4 years vs $66,666 for 6 years.
Don’t have to worry about getting voted out of office with a 6 year term?
If they screw up major early enough their term they will have enough time for the public to forget it?
Gary Schepp,
One solution to the problem of expensive elections is to compel them to be (solely) publicly financed, as in the U.K.
Unfortunately, one of the New England states tried that approach recently, and IIRC a Circuit Court of Appeals struck it down as unconstitutional.
We’ll probably have to get to blowing a billion dollars per major party candidate for President before the public get mad enough to start seriously considering this sort of thing.
That may happen as soon as 2008 accordingly to some sites I read.