House Joint Resolution 31
PARAGRAPH 1.
Sections 3, 6 and 8, Article IV of the Constitution of the State of
Sec. 6. (1) At
the regular session of the Legislative Assembly next following an enumeration
of the inhabitants by the United States Government, the number of Senators and
Representatives shall be fixed by law and apportioned among legislative
districts according to population. A senatorial district shall consist of two
representative districts. Any Senator whose term continues through the next
regular legislative session after the [effective]
operative date of the reapportionment shall be specifically assigned to
a senatorial district. The ratio of Senators and Representatives, respectively,
to population shall be determined by dividing the total population of the state
by the number of Senators and by the number of Representatives. A
reapportionment by the Legislative Assembly [shall become operative no sooner than September 1 of the year of
reapportionment] becomes operative as described in subsection (6) of
this section.
(2) This subsection
governs judicial review and correction of a reapportionment enacted by the
Legislative Assembly.
(a) Original
jurisdiction is vested in the Supreme Court, upon the petition of any elector
of the state filed with the Supreme Court on or before August 1 of the year in
which the Legislative Assembly enacts a reapportionment, to review any
reapportionment so enacted.
(b) If the Supreme Court
determines that the reapportionment thus reviewed complies with subsection (1)
of this section and all law applicable thereto, it shall dismiss the petition
by written opinion on or before September 1 of the same year and the
reapportionment [shall become operative
on September 1] becomes operative as described in subsection (6) of this
section.
(c) If the Supreme Court
determines that the reapportionment does not comply with subsection (1) of this
section and all law applicable thereto, the reapportionment shall be void. In
its written opinion, the Supreme Court shall specify with particularity wherein
the reapportionment fails to comply. The opinion shall further direct the
Secretary of State to draft a reapportionment of the Senators and
Representatives in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) of this
section and all law applicable thereto. The Supreme Court shall file its order
with the Secretary of State on or before September 15. The Secretary of State
shall conduct a hearing on the reapportionment at which the public may submit
evidence, views and argument. The Secretary of State shall cause a
transcription of the hearing to be prepared which, with the evidence, shall
become part of the record. The Secretary of State shall file the corrected
reapportionment with the Supreme Court on or before November 1 of the same
year.
(d) On or before
November 15, the Supreme Court shall review the corrected reapportionment to
assure its compliance with subsection (1) of this section and all law
applicable thereto and may further correct the reapportionment if the court
considers correction to be necessary.
(e) The corrected
reapportionment [shall become operative
upon November 15] becomes operative as described in subsection (6) of
this section.
(3) This subsection
governs enactment, judicial review and correction of a reapportionment if the
Legislative Assembly fails to enact any reapportionment by July 1 of the year
of the regular session of the Legislative Assembly next following an
enumeration of the inhabitants by the United States Government.
(a) The Secretary of
State shall make a reapportionment of the Senators and Representatives in
accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) of this section and all law
applicable thereto. The Secretary of State shall conduct a hearing on the
reapportionment at which the public may submit evidence, views and argument.
The Secretary of State shall cause a transcription of the hearing to be
prepared which, with the evidence, shall become part of the record. The
reapportionment so made shall be filed with the Supreme Court by August 15 of
the same year. [It shall become operative
on September 15] The reapportionment becomes operative as described in
subsection (6) of this section.
(b) Original
jurisdiction is vested in the Supreme Court upon the petition of any elector of
the state filed with the Supreme Court on or before September 15 of the same
year to review any reapportionment and the record made by the Secretary of
State.
(c) If the Supreme Court
determines that the reapportionment thus reviewed complies with subsection (1)
of this section and all law applicable thereto, it shall dismiss the petition
by written opinion on or before October 15 of the same year and the
reapportionment [shall become operative
on October 15] becomes operative as described in subsection (6) of this
section.
(d) If the Supreme Court
determines that the reapportionment does not comply with subsection (1) of this
section and all law applicable thereto, the reapportionment shall be void. The
Supreme Court shall return the reapportionment by November 1 to the Secretary
of State accompanied by a written opinion specifying with particularity wherein
the reapportionment fails to comply. The opinion shall further direct the
Secretary of State to correct the reapportionment in those particulars, and in
no others, and file the corrected reapportionment with the Supreme Court on or
before December 1 of the same year.
(e) On or before
December 15, the Supreme Court shall review the corrected reapportionment to
assure its compliance with subsection (1) of this section and all law
applicable thereto and may further correct the reapportionment if the court
considers correction to be necessary.
(f) The reapportionment
[shall become operative on December 15]
becomes operative as described in subsection (6) of this section.
(4) Any reapportionment
that becomes operative as provided in this section is a law of the state except
for purposes of initiative and referendum. [A
reapportionment shall not be operative before the date on which an appeal may
be taken therefrom or before the date specified in this section, whichever is
later.]
(5) Notwithstanding
section 18, Article II of this Constitution, after the convening of the next
regular legislative session following the reapportionment, a Senator whose term
continues through that legislative session is subject to recall by the electors
of the district to which the Senator is assigned and not by the electors of the
district existing before the latest reapportionment. The number of signatures
required on the recall petition is 15 percent of the total votes cast for all
candidates for Governor at the most recent election at which a candidate for
Governor was elected to a full term in the two representative districts
comprising the senatorial district to which the Senator was assigned.
(6)(a) Except as
provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, a reapportionment made under this
section becomes operative on the second Monday in January of the next
odd-numbered year after the applicable deadline for making a final
reapportionment under this section.
(b) For purposes of
electing Senators and Representatives to the next term of office that commences
after the applicable deadline for making a final reapportionment under this
section, a reapportionment made under this section becomes operative on January
1 of the calendar year next following the applicable deadline for making a
final reapportionment under this section.
Sec. 3. (1) The
senators and representatives shall be chosen by the electors of the respective
counties or districts or subdistricts within a county or district into which
the state may from time to time be divided by law.
(2)(a) If a
vacancy occurs in the office of senator or representative from any
county or district or subdistrict [shall
occur, such], the vacancy shall be filled as may be provided by law.
(b) Except as
provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection, a person who is appointed to
fill a vacancy in the office of senator or representative [shall have been] must be an inhabitant of the district the
person is appointed to represent for at least one year next preceding the date
of the appointment. [However,]
(c) For purposes
of an appointment occurring during the period beginning on January 1 of the
year [next following the operative date
of an apportionment] a reapportionment becomes operative under
section 6 of this Article, the person must have been an inhabitant of the
district for one year next preceding the date of the appointment or from
January 1 of the year [following] the
reapportionment becomes operative to the date of the appointment,
whichever is less.
Sec. 8. (1)(a)
[No person shall] Except as
provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, a person may not be a Senator
or Representative [who] if the
person at the time of election:
(A) Is not a citizen of the
(B) Has not been for one year next preceding the
election an inhabitant of the district from which the Senator or Representative
may be chosen. [However,]
(b) For purposes
of the general election next following the [operative
date of an] applicable deadline for making a final apportionment
under section 6 of this Article, the person must have been an inhabitant of the
district from January 1 of the year following the applicable deadline for
making the final reapportionment to the date of the election.
(2) Senators and
Representatives shall be at least twenty one years of age.
(3) [No person shall] A person may not
be a Senator or Representative [who] if
the person has been convicted of a felony during:
(a) The term of office
of the person as a Senator or Representative; or
(b) The period beginning
on the date of the election at which the person was elected to the office of
Senator or Representative and ending on the first day of the term of office to
which the person was elected.
(4) [No person is] A person is not
eligible to be elected as a Senator or Representative if that person has been
convicted of a felony and has not completed the sentence received for the
conviction prior to the date that person would take office if elected. As used
in this subsection, “sentence received for the conviction” includes a term of
imprisonment, any period of probation or post-prison supervision and payment of
a monetary obligation imposed as all or part of a sentence.
(5) Notwithstanding
sections 11 and 15, Article IV of this Constitution:
(a) The office of a
Senator or Representative convicted of a felony during the term to which the
Senator or Representative was elected or appointed shall become vacant on the
date the Senator or Representative is convicted.
(b) A person elected to
the office of Senator or Representative and convicted of a felony during the
period beginning on the date of the election and ending on the first day of the
term of office to which the person was elected shall be ineligible to take
office and the office shall become vacant on the first day of the next term of
office.
(6) Subject to
subsection (4) of this section, a person who is ineligible to be a Senator or
Representative under subsection (3) of this section may:
(a) Be a Senator or
Representative after the expiration of the term of office during which the
person is ineligible; and
(b) Be a candidate for
the office of Senator or Representative prior to the expiration of the term of
office during which the person is ineligible.
(7)(a) [No person shall] Except as provided
in paragraph (b) of this subsection, a person may not be a Senator or
Representative [who] if the person
at all times during the term of office of the person as a Senator or
Representative is not an inhabitant of the district from which the Senator or
Representative may be chosen or which the Senator or Representative has
been appointed to represent. A person [shall]
does not lose status as an inhabitant of a district if the person is
absent from the district for purposes of business of the Legislative Assembly.
(b) Following the
[operative date of an] applicable
deadline for making a final apportionment under section 6 of this Article,
until the expiration of the term of office of the person, a person may be an
inhabitant of any district.
PARAGRAPH 2.
The amendment proposed by this resolution shall be submitted to the people
for their approval or rejection at the next regular general election held
throughout this state.
Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 25, 2007
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