CHARTER
OF THE
CITY OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO

ARTICLE X - RECALL.

SECTION 59.   RECALL PETITION.

Any or all members of the city commission may be removed from office by the electors by the following procedure:

A petition for the recall of the commissioner or commissioners designated, signed by at least five hundred (500) of the electors of the city, and containing a statement in not more than two hundred (200) words of the grounds of the recall, shall be filed with the clerk of the city commission, who shall forthwith notify the commissioner or commissioners sought to be removed, and he or they, within five (5) days after such notice may file with such clerk of the city commission a defensive statement in not exceeding two hundred (200) words. The clerk of the city commission shall at once, upon expiration of said five (5) days, cause sufficient printed or typewritten copies of such petition, without the signatures, to be made, and to each of them he shall attach a printed or typewritten copy of such defensive statement, if one is furnished him within the time provided. The clerk of the city commission shall cause one copy of such petition to be placed on file at the said clerk's office, and provide facilities for the public signing the same, and shall also cause one copy to be placed in each of the several fire engine houses of the City, where the same shall be in the custody of the officer in charge of the house, who shall provide facilities for the public signing the same. The clerk of the city commission shall immediately cause notice to be published in some newspaper of general circulation in the city of the placing of such copies of such petition.

Such copies of such petition shall remain on file in the several places designated for the period of thirty (30) days, during which time any of them may be signed by any registered voter in the municipality, but not by agent or attorney.

SECTION 60.   NOTICE.

At the expiration of said period of thirty (30) days, the clerk of the city commission shall assemble all of said copies in his office as one instrument and shall examine the same and ascertain and certify thereon whether the signatures thereto amount to at least fifteen percent (15%) of the registered voters in the municipality at the last regular municipal election of the city. If such signatures do amount to such percent, he shall at once serve notice of that fact upon the commissioner or commissioners designated in the petition, and also deliver to the election authorities a copy of the original petition with his certificate as to the percentage of registered voters who signed the same, and a certificate as to the date of his last mentioned notice to the commissioner or commissioners designated in the petition.

SECTION 61.   RECALL ELECTION.

If the commissioner or commissioners, or any of them, designated in the petition with the clerk of the city commission within five (5) days after the last mentioned notice from the said clerk of the city commission his or their written resignation, the clerk of the city commission shall at once notify the election authorities of that fact; and such resignation shall be irrevocable, and the city commission shall proceed to fill the vacancy. In the absence of any such resignation, the election authorities shall forthwith order and fix a day for holding a recall election for the removal of those not resigning. Any such election shall be held not less than thirty (30) nor more than sixty (60) days after the expiration of the period of five (5) days last mentioned, and at the same time as any other general or special election held within such period; but if no such election be held within such period, the election authorities shall call a special recall election to be held within the period aforesaid.

SECTION 62.   VOTING DEVICES.

The voting devices used at such recall election shall conform to the following requirements. With respect to each person whose removal is sought, the question shall be submitted: "Shall (name of person) be removed from the office of city commission by recall?" Adjacent to each such question, there shall be clearly indicated a place for those voting in favor of the recall of the person in question and there shall also be clearly indicated a place for those voting against the recall of the person in question.

SECTION 63.   FILLING OF VACANCIES.

In any such election, if a majority of the votes cast on the question of removal of any commissioner are affirmative, the person whose removal is sought shall thereupon be deemed removed from office upon the announcement of the official canvass of that election, and the vacancy caused by such recall shall be filled by the remainder of the city commission according to the provisions of Section11 of this Charter.

If, however, an election is held for the recall of more than two (2) commissioners, candidates to succeed them for their unexpired terms shall be voted upon at the same election, and shall be nominated without primary election, by petitions signed, dated and verified in the manner required for petitions presenting names of candidates for nomination at a primary election, and similar in form to such petitions, but signed by electors equal in number to at least five percent (5%) of the registered voters in the municipality at the last regular municipal election of the city, and filed with the election authorities at least thirty (30) days prior to such recall election. But no such nominating petition shall be signed or circulated until after the time has expired for signing the copies of the petition for the recall, and any signatures thereon antedating such time shall not be counted.

SECTION 64.   COUNTING THE VOTE.

Candidates shall not be nominated to succeed any particular commissioner; but if only one commissioner is removed at such election, the candidate at such election receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected to fill the vacancy; and if more than one commissioner is removed at such election, such candidates equal in number to the number of commissioners removed shall be declared elected to fill the vacancies; and among the successful candidates, those receiving the greater number of votes shall be declared elected for the longer terms. Cases of ties, and all other matters not herein specially provided for, shall be determined by the rules governing elections generally.

SECTION 65.   EFFECT OF RESIGNATIONS.

No proceedings for the recall of all of the members of the city commission at the same election shall be defeated in whole or in part by the resignation of any or all of them, but upon the resignation of any of them the city commission shall have power to fill the vacancy until a successor is elected, and the proceedings for the recall and the election of successors shall continue and have the same effect as though there had been no resignation.

SECTION 66.   MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

Except as herein otherwise provided, no petition to recall any commissioner shall be filed within six (6) months after he takes office. No person removed by recall shall be eligible to be elected or appointed to the city commission for a period of two (2) years after the date of such recall. The clerk of the city commission shall preserve in his office all papers comprising or connected with a petition for a recall for a period of one (1) year after the same were filed. The method of removal herein provided is in addition to such other methods as are or may be provided by general law.

SECTION 67.   OFFENSES RELATING TO PETITIONS.

No person shall falsely impersonate another, or purposely write his name or residence falsely, in the signing of any petition for initiative, referendum, or recall, or forge any name thereto, or sign any such paper with knowledge that he is not a qualified elector of the municipality. No person shall sign, or knowlingly permit to be signed, any petition for recall at any place other than one of the places hereinbefore designated for the signing of such petitions. Nor shall any person employ or pay another, or accept employment or payment, for circulating any initiative or referendum petition upon the basis of the number of signatures procured thereto. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be fined in a sum not to exceed one hundred dollars and the costs of prosecution. The foregoing provisions shall not be held to be exclusive of, but in addition to, all laws of the State prescribing penalties for the same offenses or for other offenses relating to the same matter.

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