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Division 2. City Council and Mayor

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This section is included in your selections.

(a) Composition. The governing body shall be a ten (10) member body consisting of nine (9) district Councilmembers and one (1) Mayor. The nine (9) district Councilmembers shall be nominated and elected from nine (9) districts of near equal population on a nonpartisan basis. Each council district shall be represented by one (1) district Councilmember. The Mayor shall be nominated and elected at large on a nonpartisan basis.

(b) Residency requirements. The Mayor and each district Councilmember shall be a citizen of the United States, shall be at least eighteen (18) years of age and a qualified elector of Topeka, Kansas, and must reside in the city at the time of filing for election and thereafter for the duration of their terms. District Councilmembers shall be residents of their respective districts at the time of filing for election and thereafter for the duration of their terms. This residency requirement is not violated if a district Councilmember no longer resides in his or her elected district as a result of redistricting. Candidates for Mayor or Councilmember shall disclose any felony conviction at the time of filing for office.

(c) Eligibility. Any person desiring to become a candidate for Mayor or Councilmember shall file with the City Clerk, or such appointive officer as the Council may designate, before the filing deadline a statement of such candidacy on a form furnished by the City Clerk or by such appointive officer as the Council may designate. The City Clerk or other appointive officer receiving any filing under this section shall record the same and transmit it, together with the filing fee or petition herein provided, forthwith to the Shawnee County Election Commission. The fact that a Councilmember may be determined to have lacked any or all qualifications for the office of Councilmember during all or any portion of his or her term of office shall not affect the validity of any action taken by the Council during such Councilmember’s term of office. Each filing for Mayor shall be accompanied by a filing fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00); or, in lieu of such filing fee, by a petition signed by one hundred (100) qualified electors of the city or one (1) percent of the cast votes in the last city general election, whichever is less. Each filing for district Councilmember shall be accompanied by a filing fee of fifty dollars ($50.00); or, in lieu of such filing fee, by a petition signed by fifty (50) qualified electors of the council district.

(d) This section A2-21 of the charter ordinances of the City of Topeka shall only be amended or repealed upon approval by a majority of the electors voting during an election called for such purpose. (C.O. 96 § 1, 5-23-06/8-28-06; C.O. 94 § 7, 7-20-04.)