Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LB21                                                                                   LB21
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                                LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
                          ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
                                    FIRST SESSION
                        LEGISLATIVE BILL 21
       Introduced by Wayne, 13.
       Read first time January 05, 2023
       Committee: Urban Affairs
  A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to cities of the metropolitan class; to amend
      sections   14-201,    14-201.03,    32-536,   32-537,   and   32-554,   Reissue
       Revised Statutes of Nebraska, and section 32-539, Revised Statutes
       Cumulative Supplement,    2022;    to change provisions relating to
       elections, districts, terms, number of city council members, and
       redistricting procedures; to harmonize provisions; and to repeal the
       original sections.
   Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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          Section 1. Section 14-201, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
   amended to read:
          14-201 In each city of the metropolitan class, seven city council
   members shall be elected to the city council as provided in sections
   14-201.03 and section 32-536. The general city election for the election
   of elective officers of cities of the metropolitan class shall be held on
   the first Tuesday after the second Monday in May 1993 and every four
   years thereafter. The terms of office of such city council members shall
   commence on the fourth Monday after such election.
          Sec. 2. Section 14-201.03, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
   amended to read:
          14-201.03     (1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this
   section, the The election commissioner in any county in which is situated
   a city of the metropolitan class shall divide the city into seven city
   council districts of compact and contiguous territory. Such districts
   shall be numbered consecutively from one to seven.
          (2) At least six weeks prior to the filing deadline pursuant to
   subsection (3) of section 32-606 for the general city election in 2025,
   the city council of a city of the metropolitan class shall divide the
   city into nine city council districts of   compact and contiguous
   territory. Such districts shall be numbered consecutively from one to
   nine and shall be effective with the term of office of members elected at
   such election.
          (3) One city council member shall be elected from each district,
   except that the city council members elected or appointed to serve the
   districts created under subsection (1) of this section shall continue to
   serve such districts until the terms of office of the city council
   members elected to serve the districts created under subsection (2) of
   this section commence pursuant to section 14-201. The city council shall
   be responsible for redrawing the city council district boundaries
   pursuant to section 32-553.
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      Sec. 3. Section 32-536, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
  amended to read:
      32-536        (1) In a city of the metropolitan class, until the general
  city election in 2025, seven city council members shall be elected to the
  city council for terms of four years at the general city election in 1993
  pursuant to section 14-201.
      (2) Beginning with the general city election in 2025, nine city
  council members shall be elected to the city council for terms of four
  years pursuant to section 14-201.
      (3) One city council member shall be nominated and elected from each
   of the districts into which the city is divided pursuant to section
   14-201.03. The city council members shall meet the qualifications found
   in sections 14-204 and 14-230.
      Sec. 4. Section 32-537, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
  amended to read:
      32-537 (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, in
  In a city which adopts a home rule charter pursuant to sections 19-501 to
  19-503 and Article XI, sections 2 to 5, of the Constitution of Nebraska,
  the number of city council members shall be determined by the home rule
  charter.
       (2) The council members of a city of the metropolitan class which
  adopts   a home rule charter shall meet the qualifications found in
  sections 14-201.03, 14-204, and 14-230.
      (3) (2) Any city having a home rule charter may provide in such
  charter for a nominating petition or filing fee or both for any person
  desiring to be a candidate for the office of council member or mayor.
      Sec.     5.    Section   32-539,   Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
  2022, is amended to read:
       32-539 (1) In a city which adopts the commission plan of government
   pursuant to the Municipal Commission Plan of Government Act, the number
  of city council members shall be determined by the class and population
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  of the city. In cities having two thousand or more but not more than
   forty thousand inhabitants as   determined by   the most recent federal
   decennial census or the most recent revised certified count by the United
   States Bureau of the Census, there shall be five members, in cities of
  the primary class, there shall be five members, and in cities of the
   metropolitan class,    there shall be   nine seven members.     City council
   Council members shall be elected from the city at large. Nomination and
   election of all city council members shall be by nonpartisan ballot. The
   mayor shall be elected for a four-year term.
       (2) If a city elects to adopt the commission plan of government, the
   city council member elected as the commissioner of the department of
   public works and the city council member elected as the commissioner of
   the department of public accounts and finances shall each serve a term of
   four years and the city council member elected as the commissioner of the
   department of streets, public improvements, and public property and the
  city council member elected as the commissioner of the department of
   parks and recreation shall each serve a term of two years. Upon the
   expiration of such terms, all city council members shall serve terms of
   four years and until their successors are elected and qualified.
       (3) Commencing with the statewide primary election in 2000, and
   every two years thereafter,      candidates shall be   nominated at   the
   statewide primary election and elected at the statewide general election
   except as otherwise provided in section 19-405.
      Sec. 6. Section 32-554, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
  amended to read:
       32-554 (1)(a) Any city not under a home rule charter, village,
   county,    or school district nominating and electing members to   its
   governing board at large may, either by majority vote of the governing
   body or by petition of registered voters pursuant to subsection (2) of
  this section, submit, at a general election, the question of nominating
  and electing members to its governing board by district or ward.
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       (b) Any city not under a home rule charter, village, county having
   not more than four hundred thousand inhabitants as determined by the most
   recent federal decennial census,        or school district nominating and
   electing members to its governing board by district or ward may, either
   by majority vote of the governing body or by petition of registered
   voters pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, submit, at a general
  election,       the question of   nominating and electing members to   its
  governing board at large.
       (c) Any city of the first class, except a city having adopted the
   commissioner or city manager plan of government, nominating and electing
   members to    its governing body by    ward may,    either by    ordinance by
   majority vote of the governing body or by petition of registered voters
   pursuant to    subsection      (2)   of this section,    submit,       at   a general
   election, the question of nominating and electing some of the members to
   its governing body by ward and some at large. No more than four members
   of the city council may be elected on an at-large basis, and at least
   four members of the city council shall be elected by ward. The ordinance
   of the governing body or petition shall specify the number of at-large
   members to be elected. At the first election in which one or more at-
   large members are to be elected to the city council, the members shall be
   elected to serve for initial terms of office of the following lengths:
   (i) If one at-large member is to be elected, he or she shall serve for a
   four-year term; (ii) if two at-large members are to be elected, the
   candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected to serve
   for a four-year term and the other elected member shall be elected to
   serve for a two-year term; (iii) if three at-large members are to be
   elected, the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall
   be elected to serve for four-year terms and the other elected member
   shall be elected to serve for a two-year term; and (iv) if four at-large
   members are to be elected, the two candidates receiving the highest
  number of votes shall be elected to serve for four-year terms and the
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LB21                                                                                                     LB21
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   other elected members shall be elected to serve for two-year terms.
   Following the initial term of office, all at-large council members shall
  be elected to serve for four-year terms. No candidate may file as both an
  at-large candidate and a candidate by ward at the same election.
        (2) Petitions for submission of the question shall be signed by
   registered voters of    the city,     village,        county,    or school district
   desiring to change the procedures for electing the governing board of the
   city, village, county, or school district. The petition or petitions
  shall be signed by registered voters equal in number to twenty-five
   percent of the votes cast for the person receiving the highest number of
   votes in the city, village, county, or school district at the preceding
  general election for electing the last member or members to its governing
  board. Each sheet of the petition shall have printed the full and correct
   copy of the question as it will appear on the official ballot. The
   petitions shall be filed with the county clerk or election commissioner
   not less than seventy days prior to the date of the general election, and
   no signatures shall be added or removed from the petitions after they
  have been so filed. Petitions shall be verified as provided in section
  32-631. If the petition or petitions are found to contain the required
   number of valid signatures, the county clerk or election commissioner
  shall place the question on   a separate ballot to    be issued to    the
   registered voters of    the city,     village,        county,    or school district
   entitled to vote on the question.
         (3)(a)    Any city,    village,       county,     or school district voting to
   change from nominating and electing the members of its governing board by
   district or ward to nominating and electing some or all of such members
  at large shall notify the public and instruct the filing officer to
   accept the appropriate filings on an at-large basis. Candidates to be
   elected at large shall be nominated and elected on an at-large basis at
  the next primary and general election following submission of     the
  question.
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LB21                                                                                         LB21
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         (b) Any city, village, county, or school district voting to change
   from nominating and electing the members of its governing board at large
  to nominating and electing by district or ward shall notify the public
  and instruct the filing officer to accept all filings by district or
  ward. Candidates shall be nominated and elected by district or ward at
  the next primary and general election following submission of    the
  question. When district or ward elections have been approved by the
   majority of the electorate, the governing board of any city, village,
  county,   or school district approving such question shall establish
   districts substantially equal in population as determined by the most
   recent federal decennial census except as provided in subsection (2) of
   section 32-553.
         (4) Each Except as provided in section 14-201, each city not under a
  home rule charter, village, county, and school district which votes to
  nominate and elect members to its governing board by district or ward
  shall establish districts or wards so that approximately one-half of the
  members of   its governing board may be   nominated and elected from
   districts or wards at each election. Districts or wards shall be created
  not later than October 1 in the year following the general election at
  which the question was voted upon. If the governing board fails to draw
  district boundaries by October 1, the procedures set forth in section
  32-555 shall be followed.
        Sec. 7.       Original sections 14-201, 14-201.03, 32-536, 32-537, and
  32-554, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, and section 32-539, Revised
  Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2022, are repealed.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 14-201, 14-201.03, 32-536, 32-537, 32-539, 32-554