Positions open for Polk commissioners, sheriff, clerk of court

 

COLUMBUS-Polk County residents have the rest of the month to decide if they want to serve the county as an elected official.

Filing for several county and state offices begins Monday, Feb. 12 at noon.

Filing for county offices must be done at the Polk County Board of Elections, located on the second floor of the Womack building in Columbus. Residents can file Monday-Friday until Wednesday, Feb. 28 at noon.

There are three open seats on the Polk County Board of Commissioners this year, including the current seats of Shane Bradley (R), Ray Gasperson (D) and Tommy Melton (R).

The seat of Polk County Sheriff Donald Hill (D) is up for re-election.

The Polk County Clerk of Court is also up for re-election, held by Pam Hyder (D).

There are four Polk County Board of Education seats open this year, including one for the Columbus Township, one for Coopers Gap Township, one for Green Creek Township and one for Tryon Township. Board of education members run unaffiliated.

Other seats up for re-election this year include the District Attorney for District 29B, which includes Polk, Henderson and Transylvania counties. The current district attorney is Greg Newman (R).

Polk County Election Director Cliff Marr said there are also available seats for the N.C. State House and Senate and federal N.C. Congress, but the state is still waiting on the verification of new district maps.

Soil and water conservation supervisor will also have two seats available this year but candidates do not file for those seats until June.

If enough people file for commissioner, sheriff and/or clerk of court, there will be a local primary held in May.

A primary will not be held for the board of education no matter how many file because those candidates run non-partisan.

The primary election is scheduled for May 8. Early voting for the primary will begin on April 19 and end on May 5.

The general election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 6 with early voting from Oct. 18-Nov. 3.

For more information about the upcoming election, call the Polk County Board of Elections Office at 828-894-8181 or visit polknc.org.

See a chart below for filing fees for each office.

 

Filing fees for 2018 election

 

NC Senate                                          $207

NC House                                           $207

Polk County Commissioner            $61

Clerk of Superior Court                    $892

Sheriff                                                  $435

Board of Education                           $36