Vernon will conduct elections for the offices of mayor, town marshal, clerk and three seats on the town council on March 6.
So far, only the incumbents have declared their candidacy for the jobs:
Dan Wright, mayor
Britt Burgmeier, town marshal
M. Jean Rockey, town clerk
Danny Stark, town council, Ward 1
John Post, town council, Ward 2
Maribeth Anderson has decided not to seek re-election in Ward 3, and no one else has declared candidacy.
“If no one shows up to run for Maribeth’s seat, the council will have to appoint someone,” Wright said.
Voting will take place from noon to 6 p.m. in the Vernon Town Hall near the corner of Brown and Pike streets.
The smallest county seat in Indiana, Vernon is the only town legally allowed to hold its elections at a different time than the rest of the state because the town’s charter was filed one year before Indiana became a state.
With a population of 323 people, Vernon also is the only town in Indiana with fewer than 2,000 residents allowed to elect a mayor instead of a town board.
The original town charter decreed elections for Vernon’s offices would be conducted every two years on the first Monday in March. However, because Vernon was named as the county seat of Jennings County in 1817, the town also hosts elections for the county, state and national offices on the same calendar as the rest of the state.
Vernon has no primary for its elections.
