1. Any candidate for the office of trustee in the district shall be an American citizen over the age of twenty-five years and shall have been a resident within the county within which the district is situated for more than four whole years next before the date of the election at which he is a candidate and shall be a voter of the district. Any person desiring to become a candidate for the office of trustee at the election held on the original incorporation of the district, as provided in section 249.070, shall file with the county commission or with the election commissioners a statement, under oath, that he possesses the qualifications required by sections 249.010 to 249.420 for trustee and shall pay a filing fee of five dollars, whereupon his name shall be placed on the ballot as candidate for trustee. Any person desiring to become a candidate for the office of trustee in any subsequent election shall file such statement, under oath, with and pay such filing fee to the secretary of the board of trustees, whereupon his name shall be placed on the ballot as candidate for the office of trustee.

2. At such initial election the candidate who receives the highest number of votes shall be elected for a six-year term as trustee; the candidate who receives the second highest number of votes shall be elected for a four-year term as trustee; the candidate who receives the third highest number of votes shall be elected for a two-year term as trustee.

3. After his election each trustee shall take and subscribe his oath or affirmation before the clerk of the circuit court to the effect that he is qualified to act as trustee under the provisions of sections 249.010 to 249.420 and that he will perform his duties as such trustee to the best of his ability and impartially in the interest of the whole district.