Governor of the Inland Empire
| Governor of the Inland Empire | |
|---|---|
 Great Seal of the Inland Empire | |
 Flag of the Inland Empire | |
| Style | The Honorable |
| Residence | Westbrook Mansion |
| Seat | Riverside, Inland Empire |
| Appointer |
Lord Superintendent of the Inland Empire by statute, based on appointee's direct election by the electorate of the Inland Empire |
| Formation | October 22, 1888 |
| First holder | James Strang II |
| Deputy | Lieutenant Governor |
| Salary | $225,000 |
The Governor of the Inland Empire is the head of government, first minister, and de facto chief executive of the Sierran province of the Inland Empire. The governor is also the commander-in-chief of the Inland Empire National Guard and the Provincial Guard. Inland Empire is organized under the Anglo-American model (in contrast to the federal parliamentary system), meaning the governor is elected independently from the legislature. The Constitution of the Inland Empire enumerates various responsibilities to the governor including: chairing members of the Cabinet of the Inland Empire, overseeing the province's civil service and bureaucracy, enforcing provincial law, proposing and submitting a provincial budget, and executing much of the executive power and royal prerogative. The governor is also empowered to issue pardons, clemencies, and reprieves, to appoint or dismiss non-elected officials and judges, and to assent or withhold assent to legislation in the name of the Crown.
As with virtually all other governorships in the Kingdom, the governor is formally appointed by the province's head of state, the Lord Superintendent. However, by statute, the Lord Superintendent is bounded to appoint whomever is elected by the general electorate of the Inland Empire in the province's quadrennial gubernatorial elections. Although the Lord Superintendent reserves the right to dismiss a governor from office, by statute, this has been restricted to only instances when the governor has been either impeached by the Inland Empire Provincial Assembly or recalled by Inland Empire voters. Unless either of the two occurs, Inland Empire governors serve a fixed four-year term, which can be renewable indefinitely by reelection as there are no term-limits.
Carlitos Pacheco, a member of the Royalist Party, is the 17th and current governor of the Inland Empire. He took office on November 6, 2014, following the 2014 Inland Empire gubernatorial election. He was reelected in 2018 and is seeking reelection in 2022.
Qualifications
Anyone seeking appointment by the Lord Superintendent must become the legally declared winner of the Inland Empire's most recent gubernatorial election. In order to stand for election, a candidate must:
- Be a natural-born or naturalized K.S. citizen and a resident of the Inland Empire (must reside within the Inland Empire for at least 4 months within a year of the election to satisfy the residency requirement)
- Be a registered voter of the Province of the Inland Empire
- Not be ever convicted of a felony involving bribery, embezzlement, extortion, or dueling
Appointment and term of office
The governor of the Inland Empire is formally appointed by the Lord Superintendent of the Inland Empire, who is the Queen's viceregal representative in the province. By statute, the Lord Superintendent is required to appoint the winner of the Inland Empire's most recent gubernatorial election as governor, after the Inland Empire Secretary of State certifies the results of the election before the Inland Empire Provincial Assembly. Governors are elected directly by popular ballot and gubernatorial elections are held based on instant-runoff voting. Governors are formally appointed into office on the first Thursday of November following their election.
Oath of office
Since 2017, current statute proscribes that governors must take the following oath upon appointment:
I (Governor), do solemnly and sincerely swear/affirm, that I will bear absolute and true allegiance to Her Royal Majesty Elizabeth II and her representative, the Lord Superintendent, and I do solemnly and sincerely swear/affirm, that I will uphold the Constitution and laws of the Province of the Inland Empire and the Kingdom of Sierra, and that I will take this obligation without any mental reservation or personal evasion and that I will faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.
Removal
Similar to appointment, the legal power to remove a governor is reserved to the Lord Superintendent as one of the Crown's royal prerogatives. Its performance is also controlled by legislative statute however. According to the Inland Empire Gubernatorial Removal Act, the Lord Superintendent may only dismiss a governor on one of the two grounds for removal: following the successful impeachment of the governor by the Inland Empire Provincial Assembly, or following an approval for removal by Inland Empire voters in a recall election. The statute does not specify whether or not the Lord Superintendent is required to dismiss the governor when either requirement is satisfied. Due to the nonpartisan role of the Lord Superintendent, it is expected that the Lord Superintendent would abide by legal convention and initiate the removal from office. To date, only two governors have been removed from office by the Lord Superintendent: Humphrey T. Fields (impeached in 1978) and Kailey Hickenlooper (recalled in 2006).
