States that allow school board recalls

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School board recalls are the process of removing school board members from office via a public effort before their term is completed. Of the 39 states that allow for the recall of elected officials at some level of government, 23 states allow for the recall of school board members.

Six of the states that allow school board recalls require specific grounds to be met in order for a recall effort to move forward, such as malfeasance or misfeasance in office. The number of signatures required to get a school board recall on the ballot varies by state. Common factors for calculating the signature requirement include the size of the board member's jurisdiction and the number of votes cast in a previous election. In all but one of the states, recall elections are held if enough signatures are collected. Virginia is the exception. If enough signatures are collected in that state, a trial is held at the circuit court level.

The amount of time recall petitions are allowed to be circulated also varies by state. Georgia, Nebraska, and North Carolina have the shortest petition circulation time with 30 days. Out of the states that have a time limit for circulating petitions, Washington has the longest with 180 days. New Mexico, Tennessee, and Virginia do not have a time limit for petition circulation.

This page includes:

• A map of states that allow the recall of school board members.
• A list of states that allow the recall of school board members.

Between 2009 and 2024, Ballotpedia tracked an average of 35 recall efforts against an average of 81 school board members each year. Click here for more school board recall statistics.

Map of states that allow school board recalls

In the map below, the states highlighted in blue allow for the recall of school board members, while the states highlighted in gray do not.

List of states that allow school board recalls

The table below includes the list of states that allow the recall of school board members, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the General Assembly of North Carolina, and the Code of Virginia. Unlike the other states on this list, Virginia does not hold recall elections. Instead, if enough signatures are collected, recall petitions are sent to the relevant circuit court for trial.

State	Specific grounds required?	Signature requirement	Petition circulation time	When recalls can start
Alaska	Yes: "misconduct in office, incompetence, or failure to perform prescribed duties"	25% of votes cast for the office in the last regular election	60 days	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for 120 days
Arizona	No	25% of votes cast for the office in the last regular election	120 days	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for six months
California	No	10% to 30% of registered voters (depending on population of jurisdiction)	40 to 160 days (depending on population of jurisdiction)	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for 90 days, and they cannot start in the last six months of an officer's term
Colorado	No	40% of votes cast for the office in the last regular election	60 days	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for six months
Georgia	Yes: "act(s) of malfeasance, violation of oath of office, failure to perform duties prescribed by law willful misuse, conversion or misappropriation of public property or funds"	30% of registered voters at the last regular election	30 to 45 days (depending on number of signatures required)	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for 180 days, and they cannot start in the last 180 days of an officer's term
Idaho	No	20% of registered voters at the last regular election for the office	75 days	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for 90 days
Kansas	Yes: "conviction of a felony, misconduct in office or failure to perform duties prescribed by law"	40% of votes cast for the office in the last election	90 days	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for 120 days, and they cannot start in the last 200 days of an officer's term
Louisiana	No	20% to 40% (depending on number of electors in jurisdiction)	90 to 180 days (depending on number of electors in jurisdiction)	Recalls cannot start in the last six months of an officer's term
Maine	Determined by local election laws	Determined by local election laws	Determined by local election laws	Determined by local election laws
Massachusetts	Determined by local election laws	Determined by local election laws	Determined by local election laws	Determined by local election laws
Michigan	No	25% of voters in the jurisdiction in the last gubernatorial election	60 days between collection of first signature and collection of last signature; recall petitions are eligible to collect signatures for 180 days	For two-year terms, recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for six months, and they cannot start in the last six months of an officer's term For four-year terms, recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for one year, and they cannot start in the last year of an officer's term
Montana	Yes: "physical or mental lack of fitness, incompetence, violation of oath of office, official misconduct, or conviction of a felony offense"	20% of registered voters at the last election	Three months	Recalls cannot start in the first two months of an officer's term
Nebraska	No	For single-candidate offices, 35% of votes cast for the office in the last election For multi-candidate offices, 35% of votes cast for candidate receiving highest number of votes for that office in the last election	30 days	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for six months, and they cannot start within six months of the filing deadline for incumbents to run for re-election
Nevada	No	25% of voters in the last election	90 days	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for six months
New Jersey	No	25% of registered voters in the jurisdiction	160 days	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for one year
New Mexico	Yes: "malfeasance or misfeasance in office or violation of the oath of office during the official’s current term"	33.3% of voters in the last election for the office	No time limit	Recall elections cannot be held after May 1 in a calendar year in which a regular election for the office will be held
North Carolina	No	10% of registered voters in the jurisdiction as of the last election	30 days	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for six months, and they cannot start in the last six months of an officer's term
North Dakota	No	25% of voters who cast ballots in the last gubernatorial election in the jurisdiction	One year	Recalls can start at any time
Oregon	No	15% of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election in the jurisdiction	90 days	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for six months
Tennessee	Determined by local election laws	Determined by local election laws	Determined by local election laws	Determined by local election laws
Virginia	Yes: neglect of duty, misuse of office, incompetence, and upon conviction of certain crimes	10% of votes cast in the last election for the office	No time limit	Recalls can start at any time
Washington	Yes: "acts of malfeasance or misfeasance while in office or violation of oath of office"	25% of votes cast for the office at the last election	180 days	Recalls can start at any time
Wisconsin	No	25% of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election in the jurisdiction	60 days	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for one year

See also

• School board recalls
• Recall overview
• Laws governing recall

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• National Conference of State Legislature's article about local recalls