The House District 64 Central Committee on Thursday announced that it would convene a vacancy committee on Dec. 28 to select a successor to state Rep. Kimmi Lewis.

Lewis, R-Kim, died of cancer on Dec. 6 at age 62. Services for her take place on Friday at Our Lady of Guadalupe/St. Patrick Parish in La Junta.

In a letter to central committee members, Chairman Bob Lewis, Vice-Chairman Ty Winter and Secretary Dawn James noted that check-in and credentialing will begin at 10 a.m. at the Elbert County Fairgrounds in Kiowa.

The committee will begin its work at noon, and is scheduled to run until 3 p.m. or the conclusion of business.

The district encompasses nine counties around southeastern Colorado, and has the distinction of bordering three states: New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas (the other House district in that category is HD58, in the Four Corners region). The median household income is $50,000, and the poverty rate is nearly 15%.

On Monday, Bob Lewis said that he could not disclose whether any candidates had officially expressed interest to him. However, he said, “It’s a district with a number of politically active folks, and so I would have an expectation that there will be more than one person running.”

In June, 9News reported that 17 current lawmakers arrived at the General Assembly through vacancy committees, including 11 Democrats and six Republicans. The new House District 64 representative will bring the total to 18 before a new General Assembly is elected in 2020.

Colorado is one of five states that fills legislative vacancies through committees of varying sizes, formed according to the party affiliation of the last legislator to hold the seat.