How to Run for Community College Trustee in Kansas

Kansas community colleges elect their boards of trustees in odd-numbered years, so 2027 is an election year for trustees. Trustees serve four-year terms that begin on the second Monday in January after the election (K.S.A. 71-1412). To run, you must be an elector who lives in the member district for the seat, or in the college district for an at-large seat. You file by noon on Tuesday, June 1, 2027, either with a declaration of intent and a $20 filing fee, or with a petition signed by at least 50 electors of the district instead of the fee (K.S.A. 71-1414).

Trustee elections are nonpartisan. A primary is held on Tuesday, August 3, 2027 only if more than three candidates file for a member position, or more than three times as many candidates as seats file in an at-large race. Otherwise, every candidate goes straight to the general election on Tuesday, November 2, 2027. Trustees elected in 2027 take office on Monday, January 10, 2028 (based on state law).

The rules here come from the Kansas Statutes (K.S.A.), the 2026 Session Laws of Kansas and the Secretary of State's forms and guides. The 2027 voter dates are computed from state law, because the Secretary of State has not yet posted its 2027 calendar. For the full picture of a 2027 Kansas race, see our guide to running for local office in Kansas.

Step 1: Learn how your college elects its board

State law gives community colleges several ways to organize their boards (K.S.A. 71-1403):

• Board size. A board of trustees has six members. A college that adopts a seven member plan has seven, and a college with an additional member plan may have seven or eight.
• Method of election. Trustees are elected by one of four methods: election at large, six districts, three districts or two districts.
• At-large positions. Under a seven member plan, one position is elected at large by the whole college district (K.S.A. 71-1414).

The election itself is run by the county election officer of the county where the college's main campus is located. If the college district reaches into other counties, their county election officers work with that office (K.S.A. 71-1413). Ask the main-campus county's election office these questions:

• Which trustee positions are on the 2027 ballot, and is any of them an unexpired term?
• Which method of election does the college use, and which member district do you live in?
• Where should you file, and when does the office begin accepting filings?

Step 2: Check that you qualify

Live in the district for the seat. A candidate for a member position must be an elector of the member district they live in. A candidate for an at-large position must be an elector of the college district (K.S.A. 71-1414).

Stay there. Under a 2026 change to state law, a trustee candidate must be, and must remain, a qualified elector living in the member or at-large district at the time of the election and for the whole term. If a candidate or trustee stops meeting that rule, the candidacy or the office becomes vacant immediately (K.S.A. 71-1414(d)).

Do not work for the college. No member of a community college's board of trustees may be an employee of that college (K.S.A. 71-1403). If you work there, ask the college and the county election officer how this rule affects you before you file.

Be registered at your current address. Update your voter registration if you have moved.

Step 3: Choose the fee or the petition

The $20 fee. File a declaration of intent to be a candidate with a $20 filing fee (K.S.A. 71-1414). The declaration must name the member position you are running for.

The petition. A petition replaces the fee. It must be signed by at least 50 electors living in your member district, or in the college district for an at-large seat or a college that elects at large. If you choose the petition:

• Get the right form. The Secretary of State's candidate petition guide names Form CP as the nonpartisan petition for local office. Ask the county election officer to confirm the form for a trustee race. Fill in the top section, including the office and position, before anyone signs.
• Signers must be registered voters living in the district. Each gives a signature, printed name, street address, city and the date. All signers on one page must live in the same county, which matters for colleges whose districts span more than one county.
• Circulators, the people who collect the signatures, must be U.S. citizens, at least 18, and not convicted of a felony unless pardoned or with civil rights restored (K.S.A. 25-3608). You may circulate your own petition. Each circulator must personally witness every signature and sign a notarized affidavit for the pages they carried.
• The 180-day rule. A petition is void unless it is filed within 180 days of its first signature (K.S.A. 25-3602(d)), and the Secretary of State's guide applies this rule to nonpartisan candidates. For a June 1, 2027 filing, collect no signatures before Thursday, December 3, 2026 (based on state law).
• Collect extra and file once. The Secretary of State recommends gathering more than the required number, because some signatures will not be found valid. All pages are filed together, and a petition that falls short cannot be topped up later.

Step 4: File by noon on Tuesday, June 1, 2027

Every trustee petition or declaration must be filed on or before noon on June 1 of the odd-numbered election year (K.S.A. 71-1414(c)). The county election officer is the county clerk, except in counties with more than 125,000 people, which have an election commissioner appointed by the Secretary of State (K.S.A. 19-3419; K.S.A. 25-2504). File with the office the main-campus county tells you to use, and file early so there is time to fix a problem.

After you file. The county election officer reviews each filing. If yours is found invalid, ask why and what your options are, and keep copies of everything you filed.

Withdrawals. No candidate may withdraw after the filing deadline, with two exceptions added in 2026. A candidate is withdrawn if they certify to the county election officer a severe medical hardship on themselves or their immediate family, with a certification signed by a physician, or that they no longer live in the district they filed for. If the certification arrives on or before Wednesday, September 1, 2027, the name is not printed on the ballot (K.S.A. 71-1414(c)).

Step 5: Learn whether your race has a primary

After June 1, you will know whether your race needs a primary (K.S.A. 71-1415):

• Member positions: a primary is held only if more than three qualified candidates file for the position. The top two advance to November.
• At-large elections: a primary is held only if more than three times as many candidates file as there are trustees to elect. Twice as many candidates as there are seats advance.
• Unexpired terms are listed separately, with a primary only if more than three candidates file.

Primary ballots have no write-in lines. General election ballots carry write-in lines for each office, equal to the number of trustees to be elected (K.S.A. 71-1415(d)).

Step 6: Plan the campaign

A college district can be large, sometimes spanning several counties, so decide early where you will spend your time. Build the plan around the voter dates for your election (all based on state law):

• Registration deadline: Tuesday, July 13 for the primary and Tuesday, October 12 for the general election.
• Advance voting begins: Wednesday, July 14 and Wednesday, October 13, when mail ballots go out and counties may open in-person voting.
• In-person advance voting in every county: from Tuesday, July 27 and Tuesday, October 26, until noon on the day before the election.
• Mail ballots must reach the county election office by 7 p.m. on election day (K.S.A. 25-1132).

Each county sets its own advance voting sites and hours, so collect each county's schedule. As an example only, a trustee candidate in a three-county district might plan one community event in each county per month from June to October. Our Kansas 2027 local election calendar lists every date.

Step 7: Text the supporters who asked to hear from you

Across a large district, texting is a practical way to reach supporters when advance voting opens and on election day. Set it up in CampaignCNX+ in the spring.

1. Committee and Campaign Verify. Campaign Verify confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that a political sender is a real campaign. It needs a 527 committee (the federal tax status of a political committee), an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Ask your county election officer whether your committee's filing is posted online, and contact Campaign Verify Support if it is not. It costs $95, and a request made on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026 lasts until January 31, 2029. Campaign Verify decides eligibility. Our post on Campaign Verify for local candidates explains the steps.
2. Registration. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration, as 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number) or toll-free, and files your Campaign Verify token with it. For a toll-free number, the carrier review usually takes about three business days.
3. Consent. Text only people who agreed in writing to receive campaign texts, with the date recorded. Never text everyone who signed your petition or everyone on a voter list.
4. Groups by county. Tag supporters by county and put them in groups, so each county's group receives the advance voting details for its own county. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and STOP replies are handled automatically. For example:

Hi [First name], it's [Name], candidate for [College] trustee. Advance voting in [County] opens Wed, Oct 13. Reply STOP to opt out.

100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month. For texting rules across the region, see campaign texting in the Midwest.

After the election

Trustees elected on November 2, 2027 begin their four-year terms on Monday, January 10, 2028, the second Monday in January (based on state law, K.S.A. 71-1412).

Start with the main-campus county

Call the county election office for the county where your college's main campus is located. Ask which positions are up, which method of election applies and where to file. Then choose between the fee and the petition, and file well before noon on June 1. When you are ready to reach supporters by text, start a CampaignCNX+ trial.