If a petition signed by fifteen percent of the registered voters of any first or second class municipality as determined by the total number of registered voters at the last preceding general election is presented requesting that an election be called to vote upon the proposition of employing a city manager, the governing body shall call an election for that purpose. Upon receipt of a valid petition, the question shall be presented at the next annual municipal election or the next general election, whichever is earlier. However, the governing body may expedite the date of the election by ordering, within ten days of receiving the petition, a special election to be held on a Tuesday not less than thirty days from the date of the order of the governing body.

The election shall be held upon the same notice and conducted in the same manner as other municipal elections. The vote upon the question of employing a city manager shall be by ballot which conforms to a ballot for statewide question except that the statement required to be printed on the ballot shall be prepared by the municipal attorney.

Source: SL 1918, ch 57, § 1; RC 1919, § 6231; SL 1935, ch 158, §§ 2, 11; SDC 1939, § 45.0901; SL 1988, ch 63, § 5; SL 1992, ch 60, § 2; SL 2006, ch 29, § 5; SL 2011, ch 42, § 1, eff. March 14, 2011.