Florida Senate - 2023 CS for SB 444 By the Committee on Rules; and Senator Ingoglia 595-04049-23 2023444c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to residency of local elected 3 officials; amending s. 124.01, F.S.; prohibiting the 4 consideration of the residential addresses of certain 5 persons during the district-drawing process for boards 6 of county commissioners; providing construction; 7 creating s. 166.0321, F.S.; requiring municipalities 8 to fix the boundaries of their districts in a certain 9 manner; specifying that district changes may be made 10 only in odd-numbered years; prohibiting the 11 consideration of the residential addresses of certain 12 persons during the district-drawing process; providing 13 construction; amending s. 1001.36, F.S.; prohibiting 14 the consideration of the residential addresses of 15 certain persons during the residence-area-drawing 16 process for district school boards; providing 17 construction; amending s. 1001.361, F.S.; providing 18 that an elected candidate for district school board 19 must reside in the district school board member 20 residence area by the date she or he assumes office 21 instead of upon qualifying for office; making 22 technical changes; providing an effective date. 23 24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 25 26 Section 1.Subsection (3) of section 124.01, Florida 27 Statutes, is amended to read: 28 124.01Division of counties into districts; county 29 commissioners. 30 (3)The board of county commissioners shall, from time to 31 time, fix the boundaries of the county commissioners above 32 districts so as to keep them as nearly equal in proportion to 33 population as practicable, possible; provided, that changes made 34 in the boundaries of county commissioner districts pursuant to 35 this section are shall be made only in odd-numbered years. 36 Districts may not be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor 37 a candidate for county commission or an incumbent county 38 commissioner based on the candidates or incumbents residential 39 address. Any ordinance enacted or adopted by a county on or 40 after July 1, 2023, which is in conflict with this subsection is 41 void. 42 Section 2.Section 166.0321, Florida Statutes, is created 43 to read: 44 166.0321Division of municipalities into districts.Each 45 municipality shall, from time to time, fix the boundaries of its 46 districts so as to keep them as nearly equal in proportion to 47 their respective populations as practicable, provided that such 48 changes are made only in odd-numbered years. Districts may not 49 be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a candidate for 50 member of the governing body or an incumbent member of the 51 governing body based on the candidates or incumbents 52 residential address. Any ordinance enacted or adopted by a 53 municipality on or after July 1, 2023, which is in conflict with 54 this section is void. 55 Section 3.Subsection (2) of section 1001.36, Florida 56 Statutes, is amended to read: 57 1001.36District school board member residence areas. 58 (2)A Any district school board may make any change that it 59 deems necessary in the boundaries of any district school board 60 member residence area at any meeting of the district school 61 board, provided that such changes are shall be made only in odd 62 numbered years and that no change that would affect the 63 residence qualifications of any incumbent member disqualifies 64 shall disqualify such incumbent member during the term for which 65 he or she is elected. Residence areas may not be drawn with the 66 intent to favor or disfavor a candidate for district school 67 board member or an incumbent district school board member based 68 on the candidates or incumbents residential address. Any 69 resolution adopted by a district school board on or after July 70 1, 2023, which is in conflict with this subsection is void. 71 Section 4.Section 1001.361, Florida Statutes, is amended 72 to read: 73 1001.361Election of board by districtwide vote. 74 Notwithstanding any provision of local law or any county 75 charter, the election of members of the district school board 76 must shall be by vote of the qualified electors of the entire 77 district in a nonpartisan election as provided in chapter 105. 78 Each elected candidate for district school board member must 79 shall, by the date at the time she or he assumes office 80 qualifies, be a resident of the district school board member 81 residence area from which she or he was elected the candidate 82 seeks election. Each candidate who qualifies to have her or his 83 name placed on the ballot must shall be listed according to the 84 district school board member residence area in which she or he 85 is a candidate resides. Each qualified elector of the district 86 is shall be entitled to vote for one candidate from each 87 district school board member residence area. The candidate from 88 each district school board member residence area who receives 89 the highest number of votes in the general election shall be 90 elected to the district school board. 91 Section 5.This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.