Petitions Are Now Available for the 2013 Perry County Village, School Board Races

Candidates can now obtain petitions for 2013 certain municipal and school board elections, Perry County Clerk Kevin Kern said today.

The Consolidated Election will be held on April 9, 2013 for village officials, school board members and community college trustees.

Candidate petitions for these offices were available beginning Tuesday, Sept. 21. Candidates must file petitions and other required paperwork with local election officials between Dec. 17 and Dec. 24, 2012.

Because of the way the election calendar falls, the villages, school districts and junior college districts affected will have to have their offices staffed by one or more representatives and remain open until 5 p.m. on Christmas eve.

There will be no waiver or mitigation of this requirement.

Most school districts are traditionally on winter break and the offices are closed. The same is true for village offices.

For school board seats, interested candidates should contact the appropriate school district office to obtain necessary forms and determine petition filing information. All school districts, including Du Quoin District 300, Pinckneyville High School District 101, Pinckneyville Grade School District 50, Community Consolidated School District 204, Tamaroa Grade School District 5, Trico Community Unit District 176 and Coulterville Unit District 1 will elect a portion of its board membership. Fifty signatures from registered voters are required for all school districts. Terms of school board members are four years.

Candidates for village office should contact the village clerk during regular office hours. The villages of Cutler, Tamaroa, St. Johns and Willisville will elect village trustees (officials in the cities of Du Quoin and Pinckneyville are in the mid-point of four-year terms and are not scheduled to elect officers in 2013).

Signature requirements for municipal office vary in each community, but are generally quite small. Terms of all offices are for four years, except for any unexpired terms.

In addition, trustees will be elected to all community college districts. Potential candidates should contact the Rend Lake College, John A. Logan College or Southwestern Illinois College administrative offices for the appropriate information.