23005.
(a) The following definitions apply to this section:(1) “Board” means the board of supervisors of a county.
(2) “County” means either of the following:
(A) A county that is not required to establish an independent redistricting commission pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 23001, but which elects to create a commission using the procedures established in this section.
(B) A county that is required to establish an independent redistricting commission pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 23001, and which elects or is required to use the procedures
established in this section to establish the commission.
(3) “County elections official” means a county’s registrar of voters.
(4) “Screening panel” means a county’s civil grand jury, as described in Title 4 (commencing with Section 888) of Part 2 of the Penal Code.
(b) (1) This section establishes a county independent redistricting commission that shall comply with Section 23003.
(2) The commission shall consist of 12 members who shall be appointed on or before March 1, 2021, and on or before March 1 in each year ending in the number one thereafter.
(3) The political party preferences of the commission members, as shown on the members’ most recent affidavits of
registration, shall be as proportional as possible to the total number of voters who are registered with each political party in that county or who decline to state or do not indicate a political party preference, based on voter registration at the most recent statewide election. However, a majority of commissioners shall not be registered with the same political party. If a commission based on proportional representation as described in this paragraph would result in commissioners who are registered with the same political party occupying seven or more seats on the commission, each of those seats in excess of six seats shall instead be occupied by an individual who declines to state or does not indicate a political party preference.
(c) A commission member shall engage in conduct that is impartial and that reinforces public confidence in the integrity of the redistricting process.
(d) The commission selection process described in this section is designed to produce a commission that is independent from the influence of the board and reasonably representative of the county’s diversity.
(e) (1) Each member of a commission established pursuant to this section shall meet the requirements of subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) of Section 23003 and shall be a voter who has been continuously registered with the same political party preference or with no political party preference either during the five years immediately preceding the date of the member’s appointment to the commission or since the member registered to vote for the first time, whichever is shorter.
(2) Each commissioner shall also possess all of the following:
(A) The ability to carry out the
responsibilities of the commission.
(B) The ability to serve with impartiality in a nonpartisan role.
(C) An appreciation for the diverse demographics and geography of the county.
(f) (1) The county shall recruit eligible residents to apply to serve on the commission. The county shall request the assistance of neighborhood associations, community groups, civic organizations, and civil rights organizations to encourage eligible residents to apply to serve on the commission.
(2) An interested person meeting the qualifications specified in subdivision (e) may submit an application to the county to be considered for membership on the commission. The application shall, at a minimum, include a copy of the applicant’s resume, a
certification that the applicant meets the eligibility criteria to the best of the applicant’s knowledge, a brief statement explaining the applicant’s interest in serving on the commission, a brief statement explaining how the applicant possesses the qualifications described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (e), and the applicant’s relevant demographic information and party affiliation.
(3) The application period shall be open for at least two months. If fewer than five people apply from each existing supervisorial district or fewer than 40 people apply in total, or the county elections official determines that the applicants do not reflect the diversity of the county, the county shall reopen the application period at least once for a minimum of two weeks.
(4) The county elections official shall review applications for membership on the commission and eliminate applicants who do
not meet the criteria specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (e). The county elections official may rely on an applicant’s certification that, to the best of the applicant’s knowledge, the applicant meets those criteria. During the application period the county shall maintain and periodically update a public list with the name, relevant demographic characteristics, and party affiliation of each qualifying applicant and shall review any allegations that an applicant on that list is ineligible to serve on the commission pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (e). If those allegations are substantiated the county shall remove the applicant from consideration.
(g) (1) After the conclusion of the application process described in subdivision (f), members of the commission shall be selected pursuant to the following process:
(A) The county shall organize the
eligible applications and transmit them, as well as any written public comment received concerning any applicant or the screening process, to the screening panel. The county shall also provide the screening panel with relevant demographic and party registration figures for the county. The county shall provide additional administrative support to the screening panel upon request.
(B) Notwithstanding Section 915 of the Penal Code, at one or more noticed public meetings, and after receiving public comment, the screening panel shall review the applications. The screening panel may ask questions of an applicant at a public meeting or request that the applicant answer additional written questions. Within six weeks of receiving the applications from the county, or another time period agreed upon with the county, the screening panel shall nominate for membership on the commission no fewer than 30 and no more than 40 of the most qualified applicants,
based on the factors described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (e). The screening panel shall also nominate applicants so that, to the extent practicable:
(i) The pool of nominees reflects the county’s diversity, including racial, ethnic, geographic, and gender diversity. However, formulas or specific ratios shall not be applied for this purpose.
(ii) The pool of nominees includes at least three applicants from each supervisorial district.
(iii) The political party preferences of the pool of nominees, as shown on the nominees’ most recent affidavits of registration, shall be approximately proportional to the number of voters who are registered with each political party in the county or who decline to state or do not indicate a party preference, based on voter registration at the most recent statewide election.
(C) The county elections official shall review the applications of the applicants nominated pursuant to subparagraph (B) and remove from consideration any applicant who does not meet the eligibility criteria specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (e). At a minimum, this shall include reviewing the applicants’ certifications against reasonably available county records. If the pool of remaining nominees has fewer than three nominees from each supervisorial district or has fewer than 30 nominees in total, the screening panel shall nominate additional applicants so that those conditions are met. The county shall then divide the remaining nominees into five subpools corresponding to each of the five supervisorial districts in the county.
(D) At a noticed public meeting the county elections official shall randomly select one nominee from each of the five subpools described in
subparagraph (C). Those five nominees shall be appointed to the commission unless, if those nominees were appointed, it would be impossible to create a commission with members whose political party preferences would comply with subdivision (b). In that event the county elections official shall repeat the random selection as necessary until the composition of the political preferences of the selected nominees would make it possible to create a commission that complies with subdivision (b).
(E) The initial commissioners selected pursuant to subparagraph (D) shall review the remaining applicants in the subpools described in subparagraph (C) and shall appoint, by majority vote, seven additional applicants to the commission. The seven appointees shall be chosen based on the factors described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (e). The initial commissioners shall also select applicants so that, to the extent practicable:
(i) The commission reflects the county’s diversity, including racial, ethnic, geographic, and gender diversity. However, formulas or specific ratios shall not be applied for this purpose.
(ii) The political party preferences of the members of the commission comply with subdivision (b).
(F) The commission may, by majority vote, appoint an applicant from the pool of nominees described in subparagraph (B) to fill a vacancy that may occur on the commission, provided that the appointed applicant is registered with the same political party preference as the departed commissioner.
(2) A member of the board, or an agent for a member of the board, shall not communicate with either the screening panel or a member of the screening panel regarding whom to nominate for
consideration on the commission, or with the commissioners selected pursuant to subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (g) regarding whom to appoint to the commission, except at a public hearing or by submitting a written public comment through the formal process described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (h).
(h) (1) The term of office of each member of the commission expires upon the appointment of the first member of a successor commission.
(2) Seven members of the commission shall constitute a quorum. Seven or more affirmative votes of the commission are required to take an official action, except the adoption of a final map shall require eight or more affirmative votes.
(i) (1) The commission shall conduct at least five public hearings, with at least one
public hearing held in each supervisorial district, before adopting a final map. The commission shall schedule hearings at various times and on various days of the week to accommodate a variety of work schedules and to reach the largest possible audience.
(2) Notwithstanding Section 54954.2 of the Government Code, the commission shall give notice of any public hearing on the county’s internet website at least seven days before the hearing.
(3) The commission shall publish a draft map on the internet for at least seven days before adopting it.
(4) (A) The commission shall provide a live translation of a hearing held pursuant to this section in an applicable language if a request for translation is made at least 72 hours before the hearing.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, “applicable language” means a language in which ballots are required to be provided in the county pursuant to Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Sec. 10503).
(5) The county shall establish a formal process for the public to submit written public comment, either physically or electronically, regarding the commissioner selection process or the redistricting process, including the submission of proposed maps.
(j) The county and the commission shall take steps to encourage county residents to participate in the redistricting public review process. These steps may include the following:
(1) Providing information through media, social media, and public service announcements.
(2) Providing information through neighborhood associations, community groups, civic organizations, and civil rights organizations.
(3) Posting information on the county’s internet website that explains the redistricting process and the procedures for testifying during a hearing or submitting written testimony directly to the commission.
(k) (1) The board shall provide for reasonable funding and staffing of the commission.
(2) By March 15, 2020, and by March 15 of every year ending in the number zero thereafter, the county’s chief administrative officer, in consultation with the county elections official and the screening panel, shall provide a report to the board that outlines the following:
(A) How the county intends to recruit commission applicants, screen applicants, assist the screening panel, and staff the commission.
(B) The timeline for accomplishing the activities described in subparagraph (A).
(C) The proposed budget for recruiting applicants.
(l) With any final map that the commission adopts, the commission shall issue a report that explains the basis on which it made its decisions.
(m) (1) If the county does not form a commission by the deadline set forth in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b), or if the commission does not adopt supervisorial district boundaries by the deadline for completing county redistricting, the board shall immediately petition the superior court of the county for an
order adopting supervisorial district boundaries. If the commission is deadlocked on the adoption of a final map, the petition shall include a copy of the two or more complete draft maps that received the most commissioner votes.
(2) Upon finding that a petition filed pursuant to paragraph (1) is valid, the superior court shall adopt supervisorial district boundaries, which shall be used in the county’s next regular election. The superior court shall consider adopting one of the two or more draft maps filed with the petition, if any, but may adopt different boundaries that better comply with the criteria established in Section 21500. The superior court may also order the adjustment of electoral deadlines as necessary to implement the new supervisorial district boundaries in the next regular election.
(3) The superior court may appoint a special master or other experts to assist
the court with adopting the supervisorial district boundaries. The county shall pay the cost for any special master or expert and any associated costs.
(4) The superior court or the special master shall hold one or more public hearings before the superior court adopts the supervisorial district boundaries.
(5) Subject to the approval of the superior court, the special master may employ redistricting experts or other consultants or counsel, independent experts in the field of redistricting and computer technology, and other necessary personnel to assist the special master in the special master’s work. The special master may seek the full cooperation of the county in producing and using whatever data, computer models and programs, and technical assistance that was made available to the commission and county personnel who are knowledgeable in drafting redistricting legislation. The
superior court may assist the special master in securing the necessary personnel and the physical facilities required for the special master’s work, and to prepare for the prompt submission to the county of a request for county funding for the necessary expenses of the special master and the special master’s staff.
(6) The supervisorial district boundaries adopted by the superior court shall be immediately effective in the same manner as if the commission had adopted the boundaries.
(n) The county may adopt rules to implement this section.