Recall of School Board Directors Overview

Elected officials in Colorado are subject to being recalled after the first six months, but prior to the last six months, in office. Recall is an extremely effective tool given to electors to express their displeasure with their elected officials. However, the process can cause divisions in a community that take years to heal.

The procedures for recall are found in the Uniform Election Code of 1992 at C.R.S. § 1-12-101 et seq. When school districts were brought under this code, the specific school recall procedures were repealed. This page provides an overview of the recall process for school board directors. It is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult with the district’s or board’s legal counsel as specific questions arise. Visit CASB's Elections webpage for additional resources.

Jump to a topic

• Recall petition
• Petition sufficiency and protest
• Timing of election
• Candidates
• Ballot questions
• Election expenses

Recall petition

The recall process begins with the circulation of a petition demanding the election of an unspecified successor to the elected official named in the petition. The petition must contain a general statement of 200 words or less stating the grounds for the recall, and may not include any profane or false statements.[1]

The petition must be signed by at least 40% of those electors who voted in the last preceding election at which the director to be recalled was elected. If no such election was held (e.g., the director was appointed to the position), the petition shall be signed by at least 10% of the electors residing in the school district on the date that the form of the petition is approved by the county clerk. In no case may the number of signatures be less than 10% of the eligible electors qualified to vote in the most recent biennial school election, but no more than 15,000 signatures will be required [2]; the Secretary of State's office interprets the 15,000 signatures as the maximum number of signatures required, whether a director was elected or appointed, for a recall petition.

It is up to the recall committee, not the school district, to prepare the recall petition in accordance with the specific requirements set forth in state law. The petition is filed with the county clerk and recorder in which the school district’s administrative offices are located. The county clerk and recorder, not the school district's DEO, is responsible for verifying the petition and conducting the recall election.[3] 

During the review of any recall petition, the county clerk and recorder must notify the recall committee of any errors and insufficiencies regarding circulator affidavits. Upon receipt of such notification, the recall committee has 5 calendar days from the date of receipt of the notice to cure the errors and insufficiencies described in the notice. To cure a circulator affidavit, the recall committee must provide the county clerk and recorder with a new circulator affidavit that corrects the errors of the previously submitted affidavit.[4]

When a petition is deemed insufficient, the county clerk and recorder will provide the specific reasons for the determination to the recall committee. The recall committee may appeal the determination of insufficiency in the manner proscribed by law to the district court in the county where the petition was filed.[5]

When a petition is deemed sufficient, the county clerk and recorder will notify both the recall committee and the incumbent of the determination of sufficiency.[6] Any eligible elector then has 15 days to file a protest, in writing under oath, with the county clerk and recorder.[7] Any signer may request that his or her name be stricken from the petition within this protest period.[8] Grounds to protest a petition include failure of any portion of a petition or circulator affidavit to meet the requirements of law or any conduct on the part of petition circulators that substantially misleads persons signing the petition.[9] A hearing on the protest will follow 5-10 days after the county clerk and recorder has sent notice of the protest to the recall committee.[10] 

Timing of election

The recall election will be held not less than 30 nor more than 60 days after the petition is determined to be sufficient. However, for a school district election, if a general election is scheduled within 120 days, the recall election is held as part of that election. A school district recall election may not be held within 60 days after the date of a primary, general, or congressional vacancy election.[11] If the county clerk approves recall petitions for more than one school board member in the same district during the same 15-day period, the county clerk may delay setting the election until the sufficiency of all of the recall petitions for that district are finally determined.[12] The election for a successor is conducted at the same time as the recall election.[13] 

Candidates

Nomination petitions for candidates appearing on the ballot and affidavits of intent to run as a write-in candidate may be circulated beginning the first date on which a protest may be filed, and must be filed no later than 25 days before the date set for the election.[14] Every nomination petition must contain the same number of signatures required if the candidate was running in the regular biennial school election.[15] All candidates must meet the usual qualifications required of school board candidates: 

1. a resident of the school district and a registered voter, as shown on the books of the county clerk and recorder, for at least 12 consecutive months prior to the election;
2. 18 years or older by the date of the election; 
3. a citizen of the United States; and 
4. a resident of the director district in which he or she is a candidate if the school district has a director district plan of representation or a combined director district and at-large plan of representation.

Within 72 hours after certification results of a recall election, any elector who is registered in a political subdivision represented by an official subject to recall may file a protest in the district court alleging that the successor candidate who received the highest number of votes fails to qualify for office.[16] If the district court determines that the successor candidate does not qualify for the office, the recalled school board director is not eligible as a candidate to fill the vacancy.[17]

Ballot questions

Essentially two questions are presented to the electors at the recall election. First, whether the incumbent school board member should be recalled. If the majority of voters vote “no,” the incumbent board member continues in office. If the recall is successful, the second question is who will succeed the recalled board member and be elected from among the candidates for the position. No vote is counted for a successor candidate unless the voter also voted for or against recall.[18]

The ballot must include a statement of 200 words or less stating the grounds for recall (this must be the same statement to appear on the petition for recall, see above). The officer sought to be recalled may also submit a statement of justification of his or her course of conduct, which statement must be 300 words or less.[19]

Election expenses

If the incumbent is not recalled, the school board is required by law to authorize a resolution to repay the incumbent for authorized expenses incurred because of the recall.[20] These expenses can include money spent challenging the sufficiency of the petition, as well as campaign expenses.[21] The amount repaid cannot exceed 40 cents per eligible elector, subject to a maximum payment of $10,000.[22]

Additionally, the school district must reimburse the county clerk and recorder's office for reasonable expenses incurred by the county clerk and recorder in performing duties relating to the recall of an incumbent school board member. [23]

Updated February 2023 

[1] C.R.S. § 1-12-103.
[2] C.R.S. § 1-12-105. Once a school director is subject to one recall election, any future recall petitions during that term must contain 1½ times the number of signatures required on the first petition. C.R.S. § 1-12-102(3).
[3] C.R.S. § 1-12-107(3).
[4] C.R.S. § 1-12-108(8)(c)(II.5).
[5] C.R.S. § 1-12-108(8)(c)(III).
[6] C.R.S. § 1-12-108(8)(c)(I).
[7] C.R.S. § 1-12-108(9)(a)(I).
[8] C.R.S. § 1-12-108(9)(d)(I).
[9] C.R.S. § 1-12-108(9)(a)(II).
[10] Id.
[11] C.R.S. § 1-12-111(2).
[12] C.R.S. § 1-12-111(3).
[13] C.R.S. § 1-12-118(1).
[14] C.R.S. §§ 1-12-115; 1-12-117(2).
[15] C.R.S. § 1-12-117(3)(a).
[16] C.R.S. § 1-12-118.5(1)(a).
[17] C.R.S. § 1-12-118.5(2).
[18] Colo. Const. art. XXI, § 4.
[19] C.R.S. § 1-12-112(1).
[20] C.R.S. § 1-12-120(2).
[21] C.R.S. § 1-12-120(3).
[22] C.R.S. § 1-12-120(2).
[23] C.R.S. § 1-12-120.5.