| 1 | 1 | | 25 LC 47 3310 |
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| 2 | 2 | | Senate Bill 114 |
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| 3 | 3 | | By: Senators Parent of the 44th, Jones II of the 22nd, Halpern of the 39th, Harrell of the 40th, |
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| 4 | 4 | | Mangham of the 55th and others |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | To amend Chapter 1 of Title 28 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to |
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| 8 | 8 | | 1 |
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| 9 | 9 | | general provisions regarding the General Assembly, so as to provide certain procedures for2 |
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| 10 | 10 | | redistricting of the General Assembly and congressional districts in this state; to provide for3 |
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| 11 | 11 | | certain hearings, information availability, procedures, and notifications; to provide for related4 |
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| 12 | 12 | | matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.5 |
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| 13 | 13 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:6 |
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| 14 | 14 | | SECTION 1.7 |
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| 15 | 15 | | Chapter 1 of Title 28 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general8 |
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| 16 | 16 | | provisions regarding the General Assembly, is amended by adding a new Code section to9 |
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| 17 | 17 | | read as follows:10 |
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| 18 | 18 | | "28-1-17. |
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| 19 | 19 | | 11 |
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| 20 | 20 | | In redistricting the General Assembly and the congressional districts in Georgia, the12 |
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| 21 | 21 | | General Assembly shall follow the following procedures:13 |
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| 22 | 22 | | (1) There shall be a minimum of two public hearings in each judicial district of this state14 |
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| 23 | 23 | | during the redistricting process. There shall be one public hearing in each judicial district15 |
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| 24 | 24 | | of this state prior to the development of the redistricting plans. There shall be one public16 |
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| 25 | 25 | | S. B. 114 |
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| 26 | 26 | | - 1 - 25 LC 47 3310 |
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| 27 | 27 | | hearing in each judicial district of this state after the introduction of the proposed plan or17 |
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| 28 | 28 | | plans in the General Assembly which shall be held not later than one week prior to the18 |
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| 29 | 29 | | final vote on such proposed plan or plans;19 |
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| 30 | 30 | | (2) At least one public hearing shall be held in the municipality with the highest20 |
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| 31 | 31 | | population in each judicial district of this state, and at least one public hearing shall be21 |
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| 32 | 32 | | held in the municipality with the second highest population in each judicial district of this22 |
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| 33 | 33 | | state. Such hearings shall be open to the general public, and at least two members of the23 |
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| 34 | 34 | | General Assembly from each house of the General Assembly shall attend such public24 |
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| 35 | 35 | | hearings. One member from each house shall represent the majority party in such house,25 |
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| 36 | 36 | | and one member from each house shall represent the minority party in such house. Such26 |
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| 37 | 37 | | members shall come from the committee of each house that considers proposed27 |
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| 38 | 38 | | redistricting plans;28 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (3) The public hearings shall be recorded and made available both live as they occur and29 |
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| 40 | 40 | | as archived files for public viewing on the internet. During each public hearing, the30 |
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| 41 | 41 | | General Assembly members representing each house of the General Assembly shall31 |
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| 42 | 42 | | present the initial proposed plan or plans, explain the procedure or process used to create32 |
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| 43 | 43 | | such plan or plans, and hear public comments and suggestions. Public notice of such33 |
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| 44 | 44 | | public hearings shall be published on the public website of the General Assembly and34 |
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| 45 | 45 | | once a week for two consecutive weeks in the legal organ of each county, not later than35 |
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| 46 | 46 | | seven days prior to the date of the public hearing. Visual representations of the proposed36 |
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| 47 | 47 | | plan or plans shall be prominently displayed at each public hearing, and the plan or plans37 |
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| 48 | 48 | | shall be presented visually in sufficient detail so that the public may visually inspect all38 |
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| 49 | 49 | | district boundaries down to the residence level. The plan or plans shall be presented in39 |
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| 50 | 50 | | a manner that will allow any member of the public to immediately inspect the proposed40 |
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| 51 | 51 | | district in which such member lives as well as all neighboring districts;41 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (4) The proposed plan or plans shall be published on the public website of the General42 |
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| 53 | 53 | | Assembly not later than 48 hours after the proposed plan or plans have been assigned to43 |
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| 54 | 54 | | S. B. 114 |
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| 55 | 55 | | - 2 - 25 LC 47 3310 |
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| 56 | 56 | | committee. The plan or plans shall be presented visually in sufficient detail so that the44 |
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| 57 | 57 | | public may visually inspect all district boundaries down to the residence level, and the45 |
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| 58 | 58 | | plan or plans shall also include all data necessary for a third party to recreate an accurate46 |
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| 59 | 59 | | visual representation of such proposed plan or plans. The plan or plans shall be presented47 |
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| 60 | 60 | | in a manner that will allow any member of the public to immediately visually inspect the48 |
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| 61 | 61 | | proposed district in which such member lives as well as all neighboring districts. Any49 |
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| 62 | 62 | | initially proposed plan or plans published on the public website of the General Assembly50 |
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| 63 | 63 | | shall also include a detailed explanation of the procedure or process used to create such51 |
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| 64 | 64 | | plan or plans, including, but not limited to, all inputs, variables, factors, or other bases52 |
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| 65 | 65 | | used to create such plan or plans; draft maps; formulae or algorithms; and any hardware53 |
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| 66 | 66 | | or software relied upon to create such plan or plans. This paragraph shall be construed54 |
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| 67 | 67 | | to defeat any legal claim or defense that is brought or raised by any party to prevent the55 |
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| 68 | 68 | | disclosure of such procedure or process, including, but not limited to, a claim or defense56 |
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| 69 | 69 | | that such disclosure would constitute unlawful disclosure of a trade secret or other57 |
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| 70 | 70 | | confidential or proprietary information;58 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (5) All meetings, discussions, and deliberations concerning reapportionment upon the59 |
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| 72 | 72 | | assignment of a plan or plans to committee shall be conducted in public, and public notice60 |
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| 73 | 73 | | of such meetings, discussions, and deliberations shall be published on the public website61 |
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| 74 | 74 | | of the General Assembly at least seven days in advance;62 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (6) No committee vote shall be taken on a plan or plans unless such plan or plans have63 |
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| 76 | 76 | | been posted on the public website of the General Assembly and released at least two64 |
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| 77 | 77 | | weeks before such vote with the plan or plans presented visually in sufficient detail so65 |
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| 78 | 78 | | that the public may visually inspect all district boundaries down to the residence level,66 |
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| 79 | 79 | | and such plan or plans shall also include all data necessary for a third party to recreate an67 |
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| 80 | 80 | | accurate visual representation of such proposed plan or plans. Such plan or plans shall68 |
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| 81 | 81 | | be presented in a manner that will allow any member of the public to immediately69 |
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| 82 | 82 | | visually inspect the proposed district in which such member lives as well as all70 |
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| 83 | 83 | | S. B. 114 |
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| 84 | 84 | | - 3 - 25 LC 47 3310 |
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| 85 | 85 | | neighboring districts. Such plan or plans shall also include all relevant statistics71 |
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| 86 | 86 | | concerning such plan or plans;72 |
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| 87 | 87 | | (7) All communications sent to or from any government official or employee involved73 |
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| 88 | 88 | | in the reapportionment process, including electronic communications, shall be released74 |
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| 89 | 89 | | to the public for inspection and copying; and75 |
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| 90 | 90 | | (8) All communications with any party not hired or contracted to perform or not76 |
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| 91 | 91 | | responsible for performing the duties set forth in this Code section are strictly prohibited.77 |
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| 92 | 92 | | Such prohibition shall not apply to any public communications explicitly authorized by78 |
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| 93 | 93 | | this Code section. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as limiting any79 |
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| 94 | 94 | | obligations set forth in the law relating to disclosure of public records and open meetings80 |
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| 95 | 95 | | which shall apply to this Code section or any other applicable laws."81 |
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| 96 | 96 | | SECTION 2.82 |
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| 97 | 97 | | All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.83 |
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| 98 | 98 | | S. B. 114 |
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| 99 | 99 | | - 4 - |
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