HOUSE BILL 399

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2023

INTRODUCED BY

Susan K. Herrera and Leo Jaramillo and Willie D. Madrid

and Tara L. Lujan

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO COUNTIES; PROVIDING THAT THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF A COUNTY WITH A POPULATION GREATER THAN THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND AS SHOWN BY THE 2020 FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS SHALL CONSIST OF FIVE QUALIFIED ELECTORS; ESTABLISHING A ONE-TIME PROCEDURE TO REDISTRICT AND ELECT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED FIVE-MEMBER BOARDS OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS FOR A TERM BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2025.

 

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 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.

          C. The board of county commissioners of a county that has a population of more than thirty-five thousand, as shown by the 2020 federal decennial census, shall consist of five qualified electors who shall be elected according to law."

     SECTION 2. TEMPORARY PROVISION--LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS--DIVISION INTO NEW DISTRICTS--ELECTION--STAGGERED AND SHORTENED TERMS.--

          A. The legislature finds that the following adjustment to terms of office for certain boards of county commissioners is necessary to provide for consistency in the timing of elections in light of the county redistricting for the county boards of county commissioners that change to a five-member board due to the provisions of Subsection C of Section 4-38-2 NMSA 1978.

          B. For each county with a population of more than thirty-five thousand, as shown by the most recent federal decennial census, that is required to change to a five-member board of county commissioners due to the provisions of Subsection C of Section 4-38-2 NMSA 1978:

                (1) the board of county commissioners shall, by January 1, 2024, divide the county into five compact single-member districts in accordance with the provisions of Section 1-3-13 NMSA 1978 and shall notify the county clerk, who shall notify the secretary of state;

                (2) at the 2024 general election and for a term beginning January 1, 2025, one commissioner shall be elected pursuant to the provisions of the Election Code from each of the five districts by the voters of the district. The secretary of state shall provide a process to renumber the board of county commissioners district numbers so that subsequent elections for the offices are aligned with the offices listed for election in Section 1-10-8 NMSA 1978 and, when necessary, shall provide for an extended term to the general election in 2030 only as required to align offices and positions to the offices listed for election in Section 1-10-8 NMSA 1978; and

                (3) a county commissioner elected prior to the effective date of this act shall serve for a term of office ending December 31, 2024.

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