The resignation of Youngsville City Council Member Kayla Reaux is now official, and the city must appoint someone to fill her seat by April 25.
Records at the Secretary of State show that office received her notarized resignation on Wednesday, and responded by forwarding a letter to city officials instructing them to appoint an interim replacement by April 25 and call a special election to fill the seat permanently.
Reaux resigned her seat following investigative reporting by The Acadiana Advocate about a crash she was involved in last fall. Body cam video from Youngsville Police showed she was uncooperative until Chief Rickey Boudreaux arrived at the scene to send her on her way. The council voted to hire a law firm to investigation Boudreaux; they're set to pick that firm next week. To read our story about that, click here. To read more coverage, click here. To read The Acadiana Advocate's first story on all this, click here.
When an elected official resigns their seat, someone must be appointed immediately to represent their constituents. If there is less than a year left in their term in office, that person serves out the remainder of the term. If there is more than a year left in the term, an interim person is appointed to represent that district until a special election can be held to elect someone to serve out the remainder of the term. Because Reaux had more than a year left on her term, the council must appoint an interim council member and call a special election for a permanent replacement for Reaux.
If the council doesn't appoint someone by April 25, the governor must appoint someone. The same thing happens if the council fails to call the election; the governor will have to do it.
We've reached out to Youngsville officials to ask about how interested people who live in Reaux's district can apply for the interim post. Mayor Ken Ritter issued the following statement:
