Bill Text: NJ A4306 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Clarifies timing of adjustments to county district boundaries and municipal ward boundaries following congressional and legislature redistricting.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-10 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A4306 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4306-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman AL BARLAS
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Clarifies timing of adjustments to county district boundaries and municipal ward boundaries following congressional and legislative redistricting.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning adjustment of county district boundaries and municipal ward boundaries following congressional and legislative redistricting and amending P.L.1972, c.154 and P.L.1981, c.496.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 123 of P.L.1972, c.154 (C.40:41A-123) is amended to read as follows:
123. [Within three months following the receipt by the Governor of the official decennial census of the United States for New Jersey, the] The district commissioners shall meet, in the manner heretofore provided in this article, for the purpose of making [such] any adjustments in district boundaries following the certification of congressional districts by the Redistricting Commission and the certification of legislative districts by the Apportionment Commission, pursuant to the State Constitution, as shall be necessary pursuant to section 120 of [this act] P.L.1972, c.154 (C.40:41A-120). Within 30 days following such meeting [they] , the district commissioners shall discharge their duties and report to the county in the same manner as provided in sections 121 and 122 of [this act] P.L.1972, c.154 (C.40:41A-121 and C.40:41A-122).
(cf: P.L.1992, c.1, s.3)
2. Section 5 of P.L.1981, c.496 (C.40:44-13) is amended to read as follows:
5. a. Within 5 days following any election at which the voters of the municipality shall have adopted a charter, or an amendment thereof, or a form of government requiring the division of the municipality into a number of wards, the ward commissioners shall meet and, having first taken and subscribed, before an officer authorized to administer oaths, an oath to faithfully and impartially perform their duties, shall proceed to divide the municipality into wards as required by the charter or form of government and this act.
b. Within 30 days following the final adoption pursuant to law by the municipal governing body of any ordinance which by its terms requires that the municipality be divided into wards, or that the existing wards of the municipality be increased or decreased, or that the existing ward boundaries of the municipality be adjusted to allow for the annexation or deannexation of territory, the ward commissioners shall meet in the manner provided in subsection a. of this section and proceed to divide the municipality into wards, or to make such adjustments in ward boundaries, as shall be required to conform with the provisions of the ordinance and this act.
c. [Within 3 months following the receipt by the Governor of each federal decennial census the] The ward commissioners shall meet, in the manner provided in subsection a. of this section, and proceed to make [such] any adjustments in ward boundaries following the certification of congressional districts by the Redistricting Commission and the certification of legislative districts by the Apportionment Commission, pursuant to the State Constitution, as shall be necessary to conform them to the requirements of [this act] P.L.1981, c.496 (C.40:44-9 et seq.).
(cf: P.L.2021, c.369, s.5)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill clarifies the timing of adjustments to county district boundaries and municipal ward boundaries following congressional and legislative redistricting after the federal decennial census. Under the bill, the district commissioners and municipal ward commissioners are required to meet for the purpose of making any adjustments in district and municipal ward boundaries following the certification of congressional districts by the Redistricting Commission and the certification of legislative districts by the Apportionment Commission, pursuant to the State Constitution.
On December 3, 2020, a new paragraph 4 was added to the legislative redistricting provisions in Article IV, Section III of the State Constitution to provide for a new redistricting timeline in years when the release of the Census Bureau data is delayed. While the State Constitution was amended to account for instances when the federal census is delayed, as was the case in 2020, county redistricting and municipal ward redistricting were not similarly amended to account for such delays, which resulted in confusion and multiple episodes of redistricting to meet the statutory requirements.
