Present law requires a county legislative body to change the boundaries of districts, or redistrict a county entirely, at least every 10 years to apportion the county legislative body so that the members represent substantially equal populations. Further, present law requires districts to be reasonably compact and contiguous, and prohibits districts from overlapping. This bill prohibits a county from having a district that encompasses the entire county after the redistricting following the 2030 federal census. Further, a commissioner is prohibited from being elected to represent an at-large district. COUNTY CHARTER Present law authorizes each county in this state to adopt a charter form of government and provides requirements for what must be included in a proposed county charter. A county charter must provide for the size, method of election, qualification for holding office, method of removal, and procedures of the county legislative body with such other provisions with respect to such body as are normally related to the organization, powers, and duties of governing bodies in counties, among other things. This bill requires a county charter to also provide that a member of the county legislative body is prohibited from representing a district that encompasses the entire county. Further, this bill clarifies that this provision is a remedial measure and requires any county having an at-large district on its effective date to amend the county charter to comply with this provision no later than the 2030 federal census.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 5-1-111(e), 5-1-111, 5-1-210(4), 5-1-210