§17-4  State representatives.  (a) Whenever any vacancy in the membership of the state house of representativesoccurs, the governor shall make an appointment within sixty calendar daysfollowing the first day of vacancy to fill the vacancy for the unexpired termby selecting a person from a list of three prospective appointees submitted bythe same political party as the prior incumbent.  The appointee shall be, atthe time of appointment, and shall have been, for at least six monthsimmediately prior to the appointment, a member of the political party.  Theappointee shall, at the time of appointment, be a resident of the same staterepresentative district as the prior incumbent.  The political party shallsubmit the list of prospective appointees to the governor within thirtycalendar days following the first day of vacancy.

(b)  If the prior incumbent was not a member ofany political party, the governor, within sixty calendar days following thefirst day of vacancy, shall appoint a person who is at the time of appointmenta resident of the same state representative district as the prior incumbent andis not and has not been, for at least six months immediately prior to theappointment, a member of any political party. [L 1970, c 26, pt of §2; gen ch1985; am L 1992, c 276, §2; am L 2007, c 57, §4]