Assembly Bill No. 537–Committee on Government Affairs

March 15, 1999

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Referred to Committee on Government Affairs

 

SUMMARY—Authorizes additional redistricting of county commissioner election districts. (BDR 20-1274)

FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.

Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.

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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted. Green numbers along left margin indicate location on the printed bill (e.g., 5-15 indicates page 5, line 15).

 

AN ACT relating to county commissioners; authorizing additional redistricting of county commissioner election districts; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

1-1 Section 1. NRS 244.018 is hereby amended to read as follows:

1-2 244.018 1. If new or changed county commissioner election districts

1-3 must be established because of changes in population as determined from

1-4 the data from the decennial census taken by the Bureau of the Census of

1-5 the United States Department of Commerce, pursuant to subsection 3 or

1-6 because of changes in applicable law, the board of county commissioners

1-7 shall establish or adjust the boundaries of those districts by ordinance and

1-8 provide for the election from specified districts of the proper numbers of

1-9 county commissioners for 4-year and 2-year terms respectively so that the

1-10 numbers of county commissioners to be elected at each general election

1-11 thereafter will be as nearly equal as possible.

1-12 2. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 244.011, if at the time a

1-13 general election is to be conducted for the election of county

1-14 commissioners from new districts there is incumbent any county

1-15 commissioner, elected at large or from a validly established election

1-16 district, whose term extends beyond the first Monday of January of the

1-17 following year, he is entitled to serve out his term and shall be deemed to

1-18 represent the new district in which he resides.

2-1 3. As soon as possible after the data from each decennial census

2-2 taken by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of

2-3 Commerce is made available to the county, the board of county

2-4 commissioners shall revise the county commissioner election districts by

2-5 establishing new county commissioner election districts or adjusting the

2-6 boundaries of the existing county commissioner election districts to the

2-7 extent necessary to ensure the county commissioner election districts are

2-8 as nearly equal in population as practicable. During the fourth calendar

2-9 year after the year in which the data from the decennial census is made

2-10 available to the county, the board of county commissioners may revise

2-11 the county commissioner election districts by establishing new county

2-12 commissioner election districts or by adjusting the boundaries of the

2-13 existing county commissioner election districts to the extent necessary to

2-14 ensure the county commissioner election districts are as nearly equal in

2-15 population as practicable if:

2-16 (a) The population in any district exceeds the population in any other

2-17 district by more than 10 percent pursuant to:

2-18 (1) A special census conducted pursuant to NRS 244.183; or

2-19 (2) Information prepared by an employee of the county in

2-20 consultation with the demographer employed by the department of

2-21 taxation pursuant to NRS 360.283; and

2-22 (b) The measure of population used in paragraph (a) is found to be

2-23 reliable by the board of county commissioners.

2-24 4. Any county commissioner election district established or adjusted

2-25 pursuant to this section must be composed of entirely contiguous territory

2-26 and be as compact as possible.

2-27 5. This section does not authorize an increase or decrease in the

2-28 number of county commissioner election districts in a county.

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