New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

New Mexico House Bill HB121 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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28	28	HOUSE BILL 121
29	29	57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 2025
30	30	INTRODUCED BY
31	31	Kathleen Cates
32	32	AN ACT
33	33	RELATING TO COUNTY REDISTRICTING; ENACTING THE COUNTY
34	34	REDISTRICTING ACT; REQUIRING COUNTIES TO CREATE A COUNTY
35	35	REDISTRICTING COMMISSION; ESTABLISHING REQUIREMENTS FOR
36	36	CREATING COUNTY DISTRICT PLANS AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN THE
37	37	PROCESS; PROVIDING PROCEDURES TO APPEAL A SELECTED DISTRICT
38	38	PLAN.
39	39	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
40	40	SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--This act may be
41	41	cited as the "County Redistricting Act".
42	42	SECTION 2. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the
43	43	County Redistricting Act:
44	44	A. "commission" means a county redistricting
45	45	commission;
46	46	B. "community of interest" means a contiguous
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74	74	population that shares common economic, social or cultural
75	75	interests;
76	76	C. "county" means a class A county;
77	77	D. "district" means a county district for purposes
78	78	of electing members of a county's county commission;
79	79	E. "district plan" means a plan of single-member
80	80	districts for electing members of a county's county commission;
81	81	F. "length-width compactness" means the absolute
82	82	value of the difference between the length and the width of the
83	83	district, as measured by the distance from the northernmost
84	84	point or portion of the boundary of a district to the
85	85	southernmost point or portion of the boundary of the same
86	86	district and the distance from the westernmost point or portion
87	87	of the boundary of the district to the easternmost point or
88	88	portion of the boundary of the same district;
89	89	G. "lobbyist" means a person who is required to
90	90	register as a lobbyist pursuant to the provisions of the
91	91	Lobbyist Regulation Act;
92	92	H. "perimeter compactness" means the distance
93	93	needed to traverse the perimeter boundary of a district;
94	94	I. "political party" means a political party that
95	95	has been qualified in accordance with the provisions of the
96	96	Election Code; and
97	97	J. "public official" means a person elected to an
98	98	office of the executive or legislative branch of the state.
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127	127	SECTION 3. [NEW MATERIAL] COUNTIES REQUIRED TO CREATE
128	128	REDISTRICTING COMMISSION--MEMBERSHIP--TERMS.--
129	129	A. Each county shall create a county redistricting
130	130	commission.
131	131	B. A commission shall consist of five members,
132	132	selected as follows:
133	133	(1) two commissioners, each from the two
134	134	political parties with the largest number of registered
135	135	qualified electors in the county;
136	136	(2) two commissioners who decline to state a
137	137	party affiliation or who are members of a minor political
138	138	party; and
139	139	(3) one commissioner selected by the four
140	140	above mentioned commissioners and who shall chair the
141	141	commission.
142	142	C. The county clerk shall solicit commissioner
143	143	applications from the public, and the selection shall be
144	144	conducted randomly in a public meeting. Commissioners shall be
145	145	selected not later than January 1 of each year ending in the
146	146	number one and shall serve until a district plan is presented
147	147	to the secretary of state and until legal challenges to the
148	148	district plans, including appeals, if any, have been resolved.
149	149	D. When a member of a commission dies, resigns or
150	150	no longer has the qualifications required for the
151	151	commissioner's original appointment, the commissioner's
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180	180	position on a commission becomes vacant, and the chair of the
181	181	commission shall inform the county clerk, and a new
182	182	commissioner shall be appointed from the pool of original
183	183	applicants who are of the same political affiliation of the
184	184	commissioner vacating the commission. The vacancy shall be
185	185	filled no later than fifteen days following notification of the
186	186	vacancy.
187	187	E. A commission shall meet as necessary to carry
188	188	out its duties pursuant to the County Redistricting Act.
189	189	F. Commissioners are entitled to receive per diem
190	190	and mileage reimbursement as provided in the Per Diem and
191	191	Mileage Act and shall receive no other compensation, perquisite
192	192	or allowance.
193	193	SECTION 4. [NEW MATERIAL] COMMISSIONERS--
194	194	QUALIFICATIONS--LIMITATIONS.--
195	195	A. To qualify for appointment to a commission, an
196	196	applicant shall:
197	197	(1) be a qualified elector of New Mexico; and
198	198	(2) not be, or in the two years prior to
199	199	appointment not have been, in New Mexico, any of the following:
200	200	(a) a public official;
201	201	(b) a candidate for public office;
202	202	(c) a lobbyist;
203	203	(d) an office holder in a political
204	204	party at the state or federal level;
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233	233	(e) a relative in the first degree of
234	234	consanguinity of a member of congress, the legislature or a
235	235	board of county commissioners; or
236	236	(f) an employee of congress, the
237	237	legislative or executive branch of government or the county
238	238	government.
239	239	B. Before entering upon the duties of the
240	240	commission, a commissioner shall review the County
241	241	Redistricting Act and take the oath of office as provided in
242	242	Article 20, Section 1 of the constitution of New Mexico.
243	243	SECTION 5. [NEW MATERIAL] COMMISSION--POWERS AND
244	244	DUTIES.--
245	245	A. Beginning January 1, 2031, and every January 1
246	246	of each year ending in the number one thereafter, a commission
247	247	shall:
248	248	(1) no later than September 1 of each year
249	249	ending in the number one, adopt a map of the districts in the
250	250	county at issue;
251	251	(2) adopt the district plans as rules in
252	252	accordance with the provisions of the State Rules Act;
253	253	(3) hold no fewer than two public meetings,
254	254	either virtually or in various regions of the county, before
255	255	issuing the district plans as proposed rules for public
256	256	comment;
257	257	(4) hold no fewer than two public rule
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286	286	hearings, either virtually or in various regions of the county,
287	287	for the purpose of adopting district plans;
288	288	(5) conduct all meetings pursuant to the
289	289	requirements of the Open Meetings Act; and
290	290	(6) compile, index, maintain and provide
291	291	public access to the commission's record for each district plan
292	292	it adopts.
293	293	B. Beginning January 1, 2031, and every January 1
294	294	of each year ending in the number one thereafter, a commission
295	295	may:
296	296	(1) develop, adopt and promulgate the rules
297	297	for public hearings;
298	298	(2) contract for legal and technical
299	299	assistance for the creation of alternative district plans; and
300	300	(3) hire staff and enter into contracts and
301	301	interagency agreements as necessary to accomplish the duties
302	302	set forth in this section.
303	303	SECTION 6. [NEW MATERIAL] COMMISSION MEETINGS BEFORE
304	304	PROPOSING DISTRICT PLANS.--
305	305	A. Before a commission issues proposed district
306	306	plans for public comment, the commission shall hold no fewer
307	307	than two public meetings at which the commission shall receive
308	308	testimony, documents and information regarding the
309	309	identification of communities of interest and other testimony,
310	310	documents and information regarding the creation of district
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339	339	plans. A commission shall provide the public with notice not
340	340	later than thirty days before these meetings, and the notice
341	341	shall include information about how the public may participate
342	342	and submit testimony, documents and information. A commission
343	343	shall hold meetings either virtually or in various regions
344	344	across the county.
345	345	B. A commission shall compile, index, maintain and
346	346	provide public access to all testimony, documents and
347	347	information received in the meetings conducted before issuing
348	348	proposed district plans for public comment.
349	349	C. The proposed district plans that a commission
350	350	issues for public comment shall be based, in part, on the
351	351	testimony, documents and information received.
352	352	SECTION 7. [NEW MATERIAL] DISTRICT PLANS--REQUIREMENTS
353	353	AND PROHIBITIONS.--
354	354	A. When proposing or adopting district plans, a
355	355	commission shall:
356	356	(1) create district plans composed of
357	357	single-member districts;
358	358	(2) create district plans composed of
359	359	contiguous territory; provided that districts that meet only at
360	360	the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous; and
361	361	(3) comply with all applicable federal laws.
362	362	B. When proposing or adopting district plans, a
363	363	commission may:
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392	392	(1) use, rely upon or reference precincts; and
393	393	(2) use, rely upon or reference the most
394	394	recent federal decennial census data provided by the United
395	395	States census bureau as well as other reliable sources of
396	396	demographic data, as determined by a majority of the
397	397	commission.
398	398	C. When proposing or adopting district plans, a
399	399	commission shall not:
400	400	(1) propose or adopt district plans to favor a
401	401	political party or incumbent;
402	402	(2) use, rely upon or reference partisan data,
403	403	such as voting history or party registration data; provided
404	404	that voting history in elections may be considered to ensure
405	405	that the district plan complies with applicable federal law;
406	406	(3) create district plans to intentionally
407	407	dilute the representation of communities of interest; or
408	408	(4) create district plans to intentionally
409	409	preserve the cores of existing districts; provided, however,
410	410	that district plans may intentionally preserve the cores of
411	411	existing districts so long as the district plan meets all other
412	412	requirements provided by this section.
413	413	D. When proposing or adopting district plans for
414	414	the county, a commission shall create districts that are as
415	415	close to equal in population as possible; provided that any
416	416	deviation from equal population across districts shall not
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445	445	exceed plus or minus five percent and shall be based on:
446	446	(1) compliance with applicable federal law;
447	447	(2) consideration of tribal government
448	448	boundaries;
449	449	(3) the avoidance of diluting the
450	450	representation of communities of interest;
451	451	(4) the avoidance of fragmenting governmental
452	452	subdivisions; or
453	453	(5) the preservation of the core of existing
454	454	districts; provided that the district plan meets all other
455	455	requirements provided by this section.
456	456	E. When a district plan satisfies all of the
457	457	requirements provided by Subsections A through D of this
458	458	section, a commission shall adopt those district plans that are
459	459	most compact, as determined by a measure of length-width
460	460	compactness or perimeter compactness. The absolute compactness
461	461	values computed for individual districts may be cumulated for
462	462	all districts in a district plan to compare the overall
463	463	compactness of two or more alternative district plans for the
464	464	state or for a portion of the state. The total perimeter
465	465	distance computed for individual districts may be cumulated for
466	466	all districts in a district plan to compare the overall
467	467	compactness of two or more alternative district plans for the
468	468	state or for a portion of the state.
469	469	F. Based on length-width compactness, a district
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498	498	shall be most compact when the length of the district and the
499	499	width of the district are equal.
500	500	SECTION 8. [NEW MATERIAL] COMMISSION ADOPTION OF DISTRICT
501	501	PLANS.--A commission shall adopt a district plan at an open
502	502	meeting. After a commission adopts the district plans, the
503	503	commission shall provide written evaluations of the district
504	504	plan that address the satisfaction of the requirements set
505	505	forth in the County Redistricting Act, the ability of racial
506	506	and language minorities to elect candidates of their choice, a
507	507	measure of partisan fairness and the preservation of
508	508	communities of interest.
509	509	SECTION 9. [NEW MATERIAL] DELIVERY OF THE DISTRICT PLAN
510	510	TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE.--A commission shall deliver its
511	511	adopted district plan for the county to the county clerk and
512	512	secretary of state no later than six months after the receipt
513	513	of the census data. Those district plans shall be used in the
514	514	next general election and subsequent elections until
515	515	redistricting occurs following the next decennial census.
516	516	SECTION 10. [NEW MATERIAL] CAUSE OF ACTION--VENUE.--
517	517	A. A person who submitted data, views or arguments
518	518	orally or in writing at a public hearing conducted by a
519	519	commission shall have a civil cause of action for review of a
520	520	district plan adopted by the commission. Such action shall be
521	521	filed in the district court within thirty days after a
522	522	commission adopts the district plan at issue.
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551	551	B. The district court shall not award fees to the
552	552	prevailing party unless required by federal law.
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