Raleigh, NC- Rep. Jon Hardister (R-Guilford, Majority Whip) passed HB 687 - Clarify Vacancy Filling Partisan Board of Education - which streamlines the process of filling a vacancy on partisan boards of education. The legislation applies statewide to any local board of education that elects their members on a partisan basis.

Currently, when there is a vacancy on a partisan board of education, the political party that holds the seat is entitled to send forth an appointee to fill their vacancy. However, if the board refuses to seat the individual, the only recourse that the political party has is to file a lawsuit in Superior Court, asking a judge to force the board to perform their fiduciary responsibility. This has the potential to result in political parties and local governments spending thousands of dollars to resolve an unnecessary conflict.

Under the new law, when a political party has selected a nominee to fill a vacancy, the appointee will simply be sworn-in to office at the next regular meeting of the board. This removes the ministerial act of the board being required to vote and simply allows the appointed individual to take the oath of office. Thus, the board will not be able to stonewall the process of the political party selecting a nominee to fill the vacancy.

An example of this kind of conflict arose when the Guilford County Board of Education refused to seat the Guilford County Republican Party's nominee to fill a vacancy on the board. The result was a multi-month standoff that resulted in the NC General Assembly taking action via local legislation in an attempt to resolve the dispute. The Board still refused to comply with the law, and at this time, the Guilford County Republican Party is considering litigation and leadership in the NC General Assembly is considering additional legislative action.

Hardister contends that if this new law had been in place, it would have prevented the consternation that has been unfolding in Guilford County. His objective is to prevent this type of dispute from occurring again, not only in Guilford County, but in other counties across the state.

"This bill is intended to help local boards of education avoid drama like what we have seen recently in Guilford County," Hardister said. "It is not intended to help one political party or the other. The objective is to prevent this kind of dispute from happening again by streamlining the process of filling partisan vacancies."

The bill passed the House on a bipartisan vote of 97-19 and is now under consideration in the Senate.

Hardister is currently serving his sixth term in the NC House and his fourth as the Majority Whip. He announced in January that he is seeking the office of NC Labor Commissioner after Commissioner Josh Dobson announced his retirement.