Filing policies change

Monday, February 11, 2002

BENTON - The days of camping out to be first in line are a thing of the past in Scott County: Candidates hoping for the coveted top listing on the ballot will have to settle for an even chance when filing opens for county offices Feb. 26.

Scott County Clerk Rita Milam announced the guidelines for filing for county offices during Tuesday's county commission meeting.

Candidates filing on the first day with the county clerk's office will draw a number to determine where their name will appear on the Aug. 6 primary ballot, according to Milam.

After the first day of filing, candidates will be added to the ballot in the order they file.

The secretary of state's office has used this procedure for several years, according to Milam, to eliminate the formation of a line outside the office door as the filing opening time draws near.

Milam said the random drawing procedure was used two years ago in Scott County and worked very well.

Each candidate filing on the first day will draw once from a container with 100 numbers to determine their assigned number. Numbers drawn by the candidates will not be released until the end of the day.

If there are multiple candidates filed for an office under the same party at the end of the day, the candidates' names will be listed in ascending order according to their numbers.

Filing begins at 8 a.m. in the county clerk's office at the Scott County courthouse and closes 5 p.m. March 26.

County offices up for election this year are: presiding commissioner, collector of revenue, county clerk, recorder of deeds, treasurer, prosecuting attorney and circuit clerk.

Filing will also open for committeemen and committeewomen from each township for each political party at this time.

Candidates for county offices must pay a $50 filing fee to the political party committee under which political party they are seeking nomination.

Those filing may either bring the receipt with them when they file or they can pay while filing in which case the county clerk's office will forward the filing fee to the appropriate political party.

For more information call the county clerk's office at 545-3549.

In other Scott County news:

* Prefabricated prisoner cell pods for the new county jail will begin arriving today and Thursday from Kansas City, according to Rick Walter, project coordinator for Penzel Construction.

Walter said 24 trailer loads will be delivered over the next two days. During these two days, one block on the west end of Tywappity Street will be closed to traffic during the day.

The manufacturer of the pods, who is also subcontracted to install them, said they will have the pods all placed after two days, according to Walter.

* Scott County paid $44,296 to board its prisoners in the Mississippi County jail during the month of December, according to Jamie Burger, commissioner. During that same month, the county paid Butler County $7,725 and Chaffee $560.

The county also incurred $3,635 in medical costs for prisoners during December.

* There will be no county commission meeting Thursday.

* The courthouse will be closed Tuesday for Lincoln's Birthday.

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