Relating to county supervisors, concerning county supervisor representation plans and county supervisor vacancies, and including effective date provisions

Description

Senate File 2283 relates to county redistricting plans. The Bill is organized into three divisions:

Division I

This Division requires counties with a population of 125,000 or more based on the most recent federal decennial census that do not use plan “three” for the election of supervisors, as of the effective date of this Bill, to commence plan “three” for the election of supervisors in the 2024 general election.

This Division also requires counties to establish a temporary county redistricting commission to adopt a representation plan by the later of 30 days after the effective date of this Bill or May 15, 2024. The plan is required to be submitted to the Office of the Secretary of State (SOS) no later than November 1, 2024, and will become effective January 1, 2025.

Division II

This Division requires vacancies on a board of supervisors to be filled by special election.

Division III

This Division makes the Bill effective upon enactment.

Background

Under Iowa Code section 331.206, county redistricting plans are selected by the county board of supervisors or by special election (Iowa Code section 331.207). The three types of plans are as follows:

• Plan “one” — Election at large and without district residence requirements for the members.
• Plan “two” — Election at large but with equal-population district residence requirements for the members.
• Plan “three” — Election from single-member equal-population districts in which the electors of each district shall elect one member who must reside in that district. Currently, there are five counties with a population of 125,000 or more that would be required to use plan “three.” Of the five counties, three, Black Hawk, Johnson, and Scott, will be changing from plan “one” to plan “three,” and two, Linn and Polk, already use plan “three.” Iowa Code section 69.14A allows for the vacancies to be filled by appointment under certain circumstances.

Assumptions

Division I

• The three counties changing from plan “one” to plan “three” will experience an estimated cost between $40,000 and $80,000 per county to conform their district to plan “three.” The estimated cost will cover training, additional precincts, conforming ballots, and the mailing of new voter registration cards to all eligible voters within the county.
• There will be no additional costs to the two counties currently using plan “three.”

Division II

Counties that are required to hold special elections as a result of vacancies for their boards of supervisors may experience an estimated cost per county between $1,000 and $185,000, depending on the number of registered voters in the county. The frequency and location of these vacancies cannot be estimated.

Fiscal Impact

Division I

For the three counties required to change from plan “one” to plan “three” under Division I, the one-time cost per county is estimated to be between $40,000 and $80,000 for a total one-time cost between $120,000 and $240,000 for FY 2025.

Division II

Counties that hold special elections for their boards of supervisors pursuant to Division II may incur a cost of between $1,000 and $185,000 for each special election held in each county.

Source

• Iowa State Association of Counties