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Local Government Act 2002

Powers of Minister to act in relation to local authorities - Ministerial powers of assistance and intervention - Minister may appoint Commission

258L: Extraordinary vacancy when Commission appointed or during term of Commission

You could also call this:

“How to handle empty seats when a special group is in charge of a local council”

When a Commission is appointed to a local authority, there are special rules about filling empty seats. These rules apply if a seat becomes empty when the Commission is appointed or during the Commission’s term.

You don’t need to fill the empty seat if the Commission’s term ends after the next general election for the local authority. This could be a regular election that happens every three years or a special election called by the Minister. If this happens, any work that was done to fill the seat should be stopped.

In other cases, you need to fill the empty seat following the normal rules. But if the seat becomes empty more than 90 days before the Commission’s term ends, you should treat it as if it became empty 90 days before the end of the term.

These rules help make sure that the local authority can keep working properly, even when there are changes in who’s in charge.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM4925983.

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Part 10 Powers of Minister to act in relation to local authorities
Ministerial powers of assistance and intervention: Minister may appoint Commission

258LExtraordinary vacancy when Commission appointed or during term of Commission

  1. This section applies if an extraordinary vacancy (within the meaning of clause 5 of Schedule 7)—

  2. exists at the time a Commission is appointed to a local authority; or
    1. is created during the term that a Commission is appointed to a local authority.

      1. The vacancy is not required to be filled, and any preparations made by any person towards filling the vacancy in accordance with sections 117 to 120 of the Local Electoral Act 2001 must be abandoned, if the Commission's term ends after the date of—

      2. a triennial general election for the local authority under section 10 of the Local Electoral Act 2001; or
        1. a general election for the local authority under section 258I or 258M.

          1. The vacancy must be filled in accordance with sections 117 to 120 of the Local Electoral Act 2001 in any other case except that if the vacancy occurs more than 90 days before the end of the term of the Commission, the vacancy must be treated as if it occurred on the 90th day before that date.

          Notes
          • Section 258L: inserted, on , by section 31 of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2012 (2012 No 93).