House Bill 917

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-281, 23-15-283 AND 19-3-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE IDENTIFIABLE BOUNDARIES FOR SUPERVISORS DISTRICTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 23-15-281, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-281. Each county shall be divided into supervisors districts, which shall be the same as those for the election of members of the board of supervisors, and may be subdivided thereafter into voting precincts; and there shall be only one (1) voting place in each voting precinct. The boundaries of such supervisors districts and voting precincts shall be identifiable and visible natural * * * boundaries such as streets, highways, railroads, rivers, lakes, bayous or other obvious lines of demarcation except county lines and municipal corporate limits. The board of supervisors, no later than April 1, 2006, shall notify the office of the Secretary of State of the boundary of each supervisors district and voting precinct as then fixed and shall provide said office a legal description and a map of each supervisors district and voting precinct and shall indicate the voting place in each such district.

SECTION 2. Section 23-15-283, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-283. The board of supervisors shall have power to alter the boundaries of the supervisors districts, voting precincts and the voting place therein; and if they order a change in the boundaries, they shall notify the commissioners of election, who shall at once cause the registration books of voting precincts affected thereby to be so changed as to conform to the change of districts, and to contain only the names of the qualified electors in the voting precincts as made by the change of boundaries. Upon the order of change in the boundaries of any voting precinct or the voting place therein, the board of supervisors shall notify the office of the Secretary of State and provide said office a legal description and a map of any boundary change. No change shall be implemented or enforced until the requirements of this section have been met. Provided, however, that, with the exception of county lines and municipal corporate limits, such altered boundaries shall conform to identifiable and visible natural * * * boundaries such as streets, highways, railroads, rivers, lakes, bayous or other obvious lines of demarcation.

SECTION 3. Section 19-3-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-3-1. Each county shall be divided into five (5) districts, with due regard to equality of population and convenience of situation for the election of members of the boards of supervisors, but the districts as now existing shall continue until changed. The qualified electors of each district shall elect, at the next general election, and every four (4) years thereafter, in their districts one (1) member of the board of supervisors. The board, by a three-fifths ( 3/5) vote of all members elected, may at any time, change or alter the districts, the boundaries to be entered at large in the minutes of the proceedings of the board. Provided, however, that such changed boundaries shall * * * conform as to identifiable and visible, natural * * * boundaries, such as streets, highways, railroads, rivers, lakes, bayous or other obvious lines of demarcation, except county lines and municipal corporate limits.

In the event the boundaries of the districts are changed or altered by order of the board of supervisors as hereinabove provided, the order so doing shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the county once each week for three (3) consecutive weeks.

SECTION 4. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.