45th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2002
RELATING TO ELECTIONS; AUTHORIZING AT-LARGE ELECTIONS OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WHO RESIDE IN COUNTY COMMISSION DISTRICTS IN H CLASS COUNTIES AND IN COUNTIES HAVING A POPULATION OF FEWER THAN 13,000, WITH A THREE-MEMBER BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 4-38-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1876, Chapter 1, Section 8, as amended) is amended to read:
"4-38-2. MEMBERS--QUORUM.--
A. The board of county commissioners shall consist
of either three or five qualified electors [any two of whom
shall be competent to transact business] who shall be elected
according to law. For a three-member board, two members
constitute a quorum for the purpose of transacting business.
For a five-member board, three members constitute a quorum for
the purpose of transacting business.
B. The board of county commissioners of any county
having a population of more than one hundred thousand, as
shown by the most recent federal decennial census, and having
a final, full assessed valuation in excess of seventy-five
million dollars ($75,000,000) shall consist of five qualified
electors who shall be elected according to law. [For the
purpose of transacting business, three members shall
constitute a quorum.]"
Section 2. Section 4-38-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1876, Chapter 1, Section 10, as amended) is amended to read:
"4-38-3. RESIDENCE IN DISTRICTS--PERIOD FOR DISTRICTING--ELECTION AT LARGE.--
A. [Each] A county having a population greater than
thirteen thousand, according to the most recent federal
decennial census, shall be divided by the board of county
commissioners into as many compact single-member districts as
there are board members to be elected [and which]. The
districts shall be as equal in population as possible and
numbered respectively to correspond to the number of board
members. One commissioner shall be elected from each district
by the voters of the district and [he] shall be a resident of
the district from which he is elected. If [any] a
commissioner permanently removes his residence from or
maintains no residence in the district from which he was
elected, he shall be deemed to have resigned. The division of
the county into single-member districts shall be made once
[after] immediately following each federal decennial census.
B. [Any] An H class county [and any] or a county
having a population of thirteen thousand or [less] fewer
according to the most recent federal decennial census, may be
divided by the board of county commissioners into single-member districts [as provided in this section]. If the county
is districted, the districts shall be as equal in population
as possible and numbered respectively to correspond to the
number of board members. A commissioner shall be a resident
of the district from which he is elected. If a commissioner
permanently removes his residence from or maintains no
residence in the district from which he was elected, he shall
be deemed to have resigned. The division of the county into
single-member districts shall be made once immediately
following each federal decennial census. The board of county
commissioners in a county with only three board members may
require either that:
(1) commissioners shall be elected from each district by the voters of the whole county; or
(2) each commissioner shall be elected by the voters of the district from which that commissioner is running for office."