By Senator Means
ENROLLED, An Act,
To propose an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to authorize a committee of Etowah County officials to establish and reapportion districts, excluding the Cities of Attalla and Gadsden, and provide for the election of the members of the Etowah County Board of Education by the qualified electors of those districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, is proposed and shall become valid as a part of the Constitution when all requirements of this act are fulfilled:PROPOSED AMENDMENT
(a) The Etowah County Board of Education shall consist of seven members elected by a majority of the respective qualified electors of seven single-member districts, which districts shall exclude the Cities of Attalla and Gadsden. Only the qualified electors residing in a particular district may vote for the member representing that district. The boundaries of the Etowah County Board of Education school districts shall be established by a simple majority of the members of a committee of Etowah County officials, consisting of the Etowah County Judge of Probate, as chair, the sheriff and circuit clerk of the county, the Chair of the Etowah County Democratic Party, and the Chair of the Etowah County Republican Party, or a designee of any of them, based upon the most recent federal decennial census for the county utilizing the principle of equal representation. The committee shall reapportion districts within six months following the publication of the results of each federal decennial census, and at other times as determined necessary by the committee to achieve equal representation on the board.
(b) Elections shall be conducted and the members shall take office in the same manner as currently provided by law.
(c) Members serving on the board upon the ratification of this amendment shall continue to serve on the board until the term for which they were originally elected expires. If the boundaries of a district change, or if redistricting places an incumbent district board member outside of his or her district, the member shall nevertheless continue to serve the remainder of the term to which he or she was elected.
(d) The committee shall take necessary steps to ensure this amendment complies with the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, before any election is conducted pursuant to this amendment.
Section 2. An election upon the proposed amendment shall be held in accordance with Amendment 555 to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 284.01 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, and the election laws of this state.
Section 3. The appropriate election official shall assign a ballot number for the proposed constitutional amendment on the election ballot and shall set forth the following description of the substance or subject matter of the proposed constitutional amendment:
"Relating to Etowah County, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to authorize a committee consisting of the judge of probate, sheriff, and circuit clerk of the county, the Chair of the Etowah County Democratic Party, and the Chair of the Etowah County Republican Party, or a designee of any of them, to establish and reapportion districts, excluding the Cities of Attalla and Gadsden, and provide for the election of the members of the Etowah County Board of Education by the qualified electors of those districts.
"Proposed by Act _________"
This description shall be followed by the following language:
"Yes ( ) No ( )."