Elect County Commissioners By Districts

Currently, in a county with a population of less than 70,000, the board of county commissioners consists of 3 members from 3 separate districts, with one commissioner elected from each district by the voters of the whole county.

The bill allows the voters of a county to change the method of election so that a commissioner is elected only by voters residing in the district from which the commissioner runs for election.

The change can be made either by the board of county commissioners referring a question to the voters or by the qualified electors filing a petition to have the question placed the ballot. Terms of current commissioners are not affected and the change only affects newly elected commissioners.

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)