Candidate filing is officially under way for Polk County’s upcoming April election, which will be held Tuesday, April 5.
Every city and school board in the county, as well as several other local boards, have open seats.
Filing opened Tuesday, Dec. 7, and will run through Tuesday, Dec. 28, according to the office of the Missouri Secretary of State.
Declarations for candidacy are generally filed at the regular meeting place of the governmental body.
School board candidates must be 24, a U.S. citizen, a resident taxpayer of the district and a Missouri resident for one year at the time of the election, according to the Missouri School Boards’ Association.
Elected school board members will serve three-year terms, unless otherwise noted, and are required to complete 16 hours of orientation and training within one year of their election.
Those interested in running for local municipal seats and spots on other boards can contact those entities for eligibility requirements.
Polk County Clerk Rachel Lightfoot said the deadline to register to vote for the April election will be Wednesday, March 9. Absentee voting will begin Tuesday, Feb. 22.
For information on how to register to vote, visit the Missouri Secretary of State’s office website at sos.mo.gov and click the elections and voting tab.
More information is also available locally at the Polk County Clerk’s office, located on the second floor of the courthouse.
What’ll be on the ballot?
As of press time, the following seats are set to appear on the county’s April election ballots, per Polk County Clerk Rachel Lightfoot.
Lightfoot noted this list is subject to change if appointments not reported to the clerk’s office have been made throughout the year.
Municipal elections
City of Bolivar: Four aldermen seats, one in each ward
Village of Aldrich: Two 2-year trustee posts
City of Fair Play: Two alderman positions
Village of Flemington: Two 2-year trustee seats
Village of Halfway: Two 2-year trustee positions
City of Humansville: Mayor and two aldermen seats, one in the north ward and one in the south ward
City of Morrisville: Mayor and one alderman seat
City of Pleasant Hope: Two aldermen seats
School board elections
Bolivar R-1: Two seats
Fair Play R-2: Two seats
Halfway R-3: Two seats
Humansville R-4: Two seats
Marion C. Early R-5: Two seats
Pleasant Hope R-6: Two seats
Other board elections
Ozarks Technical College: One seat
Polk County Health Department: Three seats
Citizens Memorial Hospital: One seat
Prairie Heights Sewer District: One seat
Blue Mound Road District: One seat
Bolivar Special Road District: One seat
Flemington Special Road District: One seat
Humansville Special Road District: One seat
Southwest Special Road District: One seat
Central Polk County Fire Protection District: One seat
Pleasant Hope Fire Protection District: Two seats
Walnut Grove Fire Protection District: One seat
Editor's note: This article was updated on Thursday, Dec. 16, to reflect that two seats, not four, are open on the Marion C. Early school board, per Nancy Vance with the school district.
A change was also made to the listing for the Pleasant Hope School District, changing the number of available seats to two, per a spokesperson for the district.
