How a Recall Works Under the Eastland City Charter

How a Recall Works Under the Eastland City Charter
What the City’s governing document says about removing an elected official — and the role voters play.
The City of Eastland’s Home Rule Charter gives voters a direct tool to remove someone they elected. It’s called a recall, and the rules for it are spelled out in Article 7, Section 16 of the Charter. Below is a plain-language walkthrough of what the Charter allows and the steps that follow once a petition is turned in.
This is a description of the process as written in the Charter. It is not a statement about any particular official or any active effort to remove one.
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Who can be recalled
Any person holding an elected city office can be subject to a recall. The Charter places that power with the City’s qualified voters.
It starts with a petition
A recall begins when voters file a written petition with the City Secretary. Three things have to be true about that petition:

• Enough signatures. It must be signed by a number of registered voters equal to the total number of votes cast in the last city election where officers were elected. In other words, the bar moves with turnout — the more people who voted last time, the more signatures are needed.
• A stated reason. The petition has to point out the specific grounds for the recall. The Charter lists three: incompetency, misconduct, or malfeasance (wrongdoing) in office.
• Proper signatures. The signatures don’t all have to be on one sheet of paper. But every person who signs must add their home address (street and number). The person leading the effort — the Charter calls them the “chief circulator” — has to swear an oath before the City Secretary that everything in the petition is true and that every signature is genuine and was collected in person.
  What happens after the petition is turned in
  Once the petition is filed, the process moves to the City, and the Charter sets clear deadlines:

1. The City Secretary checks the signatures (within 10 days).
   The City Secretary reviews the petition to confirm whether enough qualified voters actually signed it. The Secretary then attaches a certificate stating the result — how many valid signatures were found and how many were not. Signatures that don’t qualify are marked with the letters “D.V.” (disqualified voter) in red ink.
2. If the petition comes up short, there’s a chance to fix it.
   If the Secretary’s certificate shows there aren’t enough valid signatures, the petition can be amended within 10 days. The Secretary then re-checks it within 10 days of that fix. If it still falls short, it’s returned to the people who filed it — but they are free to start over with a brand-new petition.
3. If the petition has enough valid signatures, an election is set.
   If the Secretary certifies that the petition is sufficient, it goes to the Board of Commissioners, which must promptly set a date for a recall election. That election is held on the next available election date allowed under state law. Notice of the election is published in the local newspaper.
   The vote itself
   At the recall election, voters are given a simple, single-question ballot. It reads, in effect:
   For the removal of [name] from the office of .
   _ For Removal _ Against Removal
   What the result means

• If a majority votes “For Removal,” the Board of Commissioners declares the result and declares the office vacant. The Charter then says the vacancy is filled “as hereinbefore provided” — meaning by the method already set out earlier in the Charter for filling a commissioner vacancy. That method (Article 7, Section 3) is a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of the unexpired term. The Charter also states that the official who was removed cannot be a candidate to succeed themselves.
• If a majority votes “Against Removal,” the official keeps their seat and stays in office.
  A note on the language: Section 16 uses the word “appoint” when describing how the vacancy is filled, but ties it to the method “hereinbefore provided,” and that earlier method (Section 3) is a special election. Because those two phrasings don’t line up neatly, exactly how the seat is filled after a successful recall is a question best answered by the City’s legal counsel rather than assumed.
  Two timing limits to know
  The Charter builds in two waiting periods:
• No recall during the first six months. A recall election can’t be held within six months of an official first being elected.
• No back-to-back attempts. If a recall election is held and fails, another recall against the same official can’t be held for six months after that vote.
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  The bottom line for voters
  In short, the Charter gives Eastland voters a defined, step-by-step path: gather the required signatures, state a valid reason, file with the City Secretary, and — if the petition holds up — let the voters decide at the ballot box. Each step has a deadline, and the City Secretary’s signature review is the gatekeeping point between a petition and an election.
  Source: City of Eastland Home Rule Charter, Article 7, Section 16 (“Recall of Officers”), as amended by Ordinance 24-910 at the election held November 5, 2024.