STATE OF OKLAHOMA

2nd Session of the 53rd Legislature (2012)

SENATE BILL 1848	By:	Shortey

AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to courts; requiring the redistricting of certain courts according to certain criteria; requiring such redistricting to be accomplished by a certain time; requiring the new districts be used for certain General Election; providing for subsequent redistricting of such courts; providing for codification; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 16.15 of Title 20, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A.  The districts of the Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals and the district courts, except for the electoral divisions thereof, shall be redistricted as equal in population as practicable.  The electoral divisions shall be divided as nearly equal in population as practicable, but the divisions shall preserve the minority districts of District No. 7 and District No. 14. Consideration shall also be given to any residency requirements of each court; provided, however, such requirements shall not supersede the population requirement.
B.  The redistricting required by this section shall be accomplished no later than July 1, 2014, and the State Election Board shall conduct the elections for any office of such courts on the retention ballot of the General Election of 2014 using the new district boundaries.
C.  Redistricting of the districts of such courts shall subsequently be conducted as provided in subsection A of this section on or before September 1, 2021, following the final official publication of the Federal Decennial Census to this state for the purposes of legislative redistricting and every ten (10) years thereafter.
SECTION 2.  This act shall become effective November 1, 2012.

53-2-3005	LKS	1/19/2012 7:24:20 PM