Malad City was founded in 1864, but it was not incorporated as a city of the State of Idaho until 1941 with Dr. O.H. Mabey as the first mayor. Malad City has a mayor/council form of government, where the mayor is elected as the chief executive and council members are elected as the law-making arm of the local government. The mayor only votes to break a tie. Each person is elected on a non-partisan basis for a four-year term. Malad City has had 12 mayors since it was incorporated: 1941-1945, Dr. O.H. Mabey; 1946-1947, Guy Benson; 1948-1950, Edward G. Williams; 1951-1955, D. LeRoy Thomas; 1956-1961, Claude Kent; 1962-1966, John V. Evans; 1967-1975, Glen B. Williams; 1976-1979, J. Marvin Hess; 1980-1983, Seth Thomas; 1984-1996, Terrill Schwartz; 1997-2014, Spence Horsley; 2015-Present, Joan Hawkins.