HOW TO FILE FOR A SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT SUPERVISOR.

Who to contact.

To run for supervisor, a candidate must file a “Minnesota Affidavit of Candidacy” with the county auditor of the county in which the SWCD office is located. There is a $20 filing fee or a candidate may submit a “Petition in Lieu of Filing Fee”. This petition must have at least 500 signatures or signatures of five percent of the total number of voters, whichever is less.

Who’s eligible.

To be eligible to file for the office of SWCD Supervisor you must be a legal voter residing in the nomination district for which the vacancy exists.

( See Supervisor’s page for District boundaries and supervisors election terms )

The filing period.

An affidavit must be filed during the filing period, which begins 70 days before the state primary and ends 56 days before the state primary. Since the state primary is always the first Tuesday after the second Monday in September, this means that the filing period is open for about two weeks sometime in July.

Terms of office.

In almost all cases, supervisors are elected for terms of four years commencing on the first Monday in January.

Roles of an SWCD Supervisor.

As a soil and water conservation district supervisor, your primary responsibility is to ensure that your community uses its natural resources wisely, with an eye toward the future.

There are three key aspects to the role of a supervisor as an SWCD board member: policy development, annual and long-range plans and budgets, and working with the district staff.