SPONSOR:

Sen. Marshall

Sens. Adams, McDowell & Sharp

DELAWARE STATE SENATE

141st GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SENATE BILL NO. 204

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 22 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COMPOSITION AND REAPPORTIONMENT OF THE CITY OF WILMINGTON, AND THE STUDY OF THE FEASIBILITY OF STATEWIDE REAPPORTIONMENT BY AN INDEPENDENT COMMISSION.

WHEREAS, the duly-elected City Council for the City of Wilmington, referring to itself as "a strong advocate of good government", has passed Resolution #1573, urging the Delaware General Assembly to reapportion its legislative districts by using an independent panel; and

WHEREAS, said resolution alleges that "gerrymandering has occurred in reapportionment as a means to protect incumbency over representation", and

WHEREAS, while one might argue with the merits of Council's Resolution, the fact that the resolution passed on May 3, 2001 makes it impossible for the General Assembly to appoint an independent panel and have the reapportionment process completed in time to fulfill its statutory mandate; and

WHEREAS, the same constraints do not apply to the Wilmington City Council, which must wait to draw its lines until state lines have already been drawn; and

WHEREAS, the Delaware General Assembly finds it advisable to investigate the merits of having an independent panel participate in the reapportionment process.

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. Amend Title 22 of the Delaware Code by adding thereto a new Chapter 17 to read as follows:

"Chapter 17. Reapportionment in the City of Wilmington

§1701. Findings and Purpose

The General Assembly in an effort to assess the feasibilty of establishing an independent commission to reapportion statewide districts in 2011, enacts this law to establish such a Commission to reapportion the City of Wilmington, and to report its finding to the General Assembly by January 30, 2001.

§1702. Definitions

As used in this Act, unless the context requires otherwise:

(a) ‘Commission’ means the Reapportionment Commission established pursuant to §1703 of this Title;

(b) ‘Census’ means the census prepared by the United States Bureau of the Census in every year ending in zero;

(d) ‘Political party office’ means any elected or appointed office in any political party recognized by the laws of this State, including, but not limited to, local committeepersons;

(e) ‘Political subdivision’ means a county or incorporated municipality;

(f) ‘Public office’ in this subchapter means any elected or appointed office or employment in the executive, judicial, or legislative branch of the government of the City of Wilmington;

(g) ‘Relative’ means any individual who is related to the person in question as parent, child, sibling, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, spouse, grandparent, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother or half sister;

(h) ‘Transcripts’ shall mean tape recordings, minutes, written summaries, and/or verbatim records.

§1703. Reapportionment Commission

(a) The Commission shall consist of 5 members. The President Pro Tempore and the Speaker of the House shall appoint one member each, and shall certify their appointment to the State Election Commissioner. The Governor shall appoint the remaining 3 members, one of which shall be named as the Commissioner, who shall also serve as Chair. A vacancy on the Commission shall be filled by the initial selecting authority within fifteen days after the vacancy occurs.

(b) Qualifications - No person shall be appointed to the Commission who:

(1) Is not a registered voter of the State at the time of selection;

(2) Holds or has held pubic or political party office within two years prior to selection;

(3) Is a relative of or is employed by a member of the City of Wilmington Council; or

(4) Is or has within two years prior to selection been a agent of the Wilmington City Council.

(1) Hold or campaign for public or political party office while a member or employee of the Commission;

(2) Hold or campaign for a seat in the State House of Representatives, State Senate, or the City of Wilmington Council, for two years after the effective date of the plan; or

(3) Register as a legislative agent while a member of the Commission or within two years of the effective date of the plan.

(d) Staff and Budget of the Commission:

(1) The Commission shall employ an executive director and other staff necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its duties. The executive director and not more than one other employee designated by the Commission shall serve at the pleasure of the Commission.

(2) The executive director shall be responsible for the administrative operations of the Commission and shall perform such duties as may be delegated or assigned by the Commission;

(3) The Commission may obtain the services of legal counsel as necessary to carry out its duties pursuant to this subchapter;

(4) The Commission may retain the services of consultants as necessary to carry out its duties pursuant to this subchapter. The State Election Commissioner, the Departments of Elections for New Castle County, and the Attorney General shall make available to the Commission such personnel, facilities, and other assistance as the Commission may reasonably request;

(5) The General Assembly shall appropriate such funds as are necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its duties. Members and employees shall receive compensation and reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses as provided for in the budget of the Commission.

(e) Duties of the Commission - In addition to other duties prescribed by law, the Commission shall:

(1) Prescribe and publish, after notice and opportunity for public comment, rules and regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this subchapter to carry out the provisions of this subchapter. The rules shall provide that three members of the Commission present and voting shall constitute a quorum to do business and that the votes of a majority of the members present shall be required for any official action of the Commission;

(2) Preserve all information filed with and developed by the Commission. This information, other than personnel records, shall be available for public inspection and copying pursuant to Chapter 100 of this Title 29, during regular office hours;

(3) Provide notice of all meetings of two or more members of the Commission pursuant to Chapter 100 of Title 29, in a manner reasonably calculated to give interested parties an opportunity to attend. In addition to the foregoing, the Commission shall cause to be published notice of such meetings in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Wilmington at least one week prior to the scheduled meeting;

(4) Hold all meetings of two or more members of the Commission open to the public pursuant to Chapter 100 of Title 29;

(5) Prepare and maintain tape recordings and minutes of all meetings of two or more members of the Commission. Minutes shall be available within a reasonable time after the meeting for public inspection and copying pursuant to Chapter 100 of Title 29 during regular business hours. The Commission shall have the discretion to select which form of minutes to use. Only those minutes that are written shall be available for inspection and copying as provided in this subsection. The Commission shall afford the opportunity for a requester, at the requester’s expense, to make a copy of any tape recording maintained pursuant to this subsection;

(6) Maintain an indexed central file of the records of substantive written and oral communications between representatives of the Commission and persons outside the Commission; provided, however, that records need not be made of communications which are solely requests for information or communications with members of the press;

(7) Prepare and publish a report for the preliminary plan and for the final plan. Each report shall be available to the public at the time it is published. Each member of the General Assembly shall receive a copy of the report. Each report shall include, but need not be limited to, the following information: population, length of boundary lines, percentage deviation from the average district population for every district, an explanation of the standards used in developing the plan with a justification of any deviation in a district from the average district population, and a map of the districts; and

(8) Perform other tasks prescribed by law, and undertake any activity it deems necessary for the fair and expeditious completion of its mandate; and

(9) By no later than January 30, 2002, provide a full report to the General Assembly evaluating the reapportionment procedure, and recommending a plan to implement a similar procedure statewide in 2011.

(f) Powers of the Commission:

(1) The Commission may require persons to appear and testify before the Commission and to produce all books, records, files, papers, maps, and documents it deems necessary for the development of a reapportionment plan. The Commission is hereby vested with subpoena power to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents.

(2) The chair of the Commission or any commissioner acting or behalf of the chair, shall have the power to administer oaths to persons who appear before the Commission.

(g) Development of the Plan:

(1) By August 1, 2001, the Commission shall prepare for public comment a preliminary plan for City Council districts;

(2) The Commission shall hold a public hearing, which shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 100 of Title 29. In addition to the foregoing, the Commission shall cause to be published notice of such hearings in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Wilmington at least one week prior to the scheduled hearing. By August 21, 2001, the Commission shall conduct the required series of public hearings on the plan.

(3) By September 1, 2001, the Commission shall adopt, by vote of at least three members, and publish a final plan. The original copy of the plan shall be filed with the State Election Commission. Copies of the plan shall be furnished to the Departments of Elections of New Castle County, the Secretary of the Senate, the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives, and each member of the General Assembly.

§1704. Reapportionment Standards

(a) Districts shall have populations as nearly equal as is practicable based on the population reported in the census taken in 2001. In no case shall a single district have a population which varies by more than five percent from the average of all population districts. Districts shall be compact in form. The aggregate length of all district boundaries shall be as short as practicable. In the case of a local political subdivision that has a population sufficient to establish two or more districts, the aggregate length of the boundaries of all districts entirely with the political subdivision shall not if practicable exceed by more than five percent the shortest possible aggregate length of the districts within the political subdivision under any plan that is consistent with the other standards contained in this Act.

(b) No district shall be drawn for the purpose of favoring any political party, incumbent legislator, or other person or group. In preparing a plan, the Commission shall not use the political affiliations of registered voters or previous election results for the purpose of favoring any political party, incumbent legislator, or other person or group.

(c) No district shall be drawn for the purpose of diluting the voting strength of any language, ethnic, or racial minority group.

(d) The Commission shall have the power to establish appropriate staggered terms for the Districts.

§1705. Judicial Review

(a) Any registered voter may file a petition in the Superior Court to compel the Commission or any person to perform duties required of the Commission or that person by this subchapter; provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply to the General Assembly after the plan shall have been returned to it as provided in §1703 of this Title.

(b) Any registered voter of the City of Wilmington may challenge the final plan of the Commission or as altered by the General Assembly by filing an appeal from the final plan with the Superior Court. Such petition shall be filed no later than thirty (30) days after the date the final plan becomes effective pursuant to §874(g)(4) of this chapter. The Superior Court may consolidate any or all such appeals and shall give such petitions regarding apportionment precedence over all other matters, to the extent practicable.

(c) If the Court finds that a petition was filed with reasonable cause, the Court may order the State to pay the petitioner’s reasonable attorneys fees and court costs, including but not limited to, costs for payment of expert witnesses and preparation of evidence.

§1706. Duration of Plan

A plan shall be in force until the effective date of a plan based upon the following census taken in a year ending in zero unless modified pursuant to court order."

Section 2. If a provision of this Act, or the application of a provision of this Act to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this Act and the application of such provisions to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected.

SYNOPSIS

This Bill creates an independent, bipartisan commission to accomplish the task of reapportionment in the City of Wilmington following the 2000 census for the purpose of effecting a pilot program to recommend a method to implement a statewide independent commission after 2010.

The reapportionment commission is to be composed of five members. The two legislative leaders will each pick a member; The President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House. The Governor will appoint the other three and select the Chair.

The commission is directed to prepare a preliminary plan, hold public hearings on the preliminary plan, and adopt a final plan by August 1, 2001. The commission then delivers the plan to the General Assembly which may alter or modify it. If the General Assembly takes no action to alter or modify the plan, the plan automatically becomes law. The Bill provides for prompt review by the Supreme Court in the event of legal challenges to the plan. Further, the Commission will prepare a report with recommendations for statewide implementation prior to the 2011 reapportionment.

Carefully developed standards would guide the commission in preparing its plan. Among the criteria are: equality of population, respect for local boundaries, compact form, and contiguous territory. The commission is prohibited from taking into account factors such as political affiliations of voters, previous election results, or other information used to favor a party, incumbents, or other interests. Districts are not to be drawn so as to penalize minorities and ethnic groups. Members and employees of the commission would be restricted from political activities.

The commission is empowered to employ a director and a staff member with the ability to obtain the services of consultants as needed, or of using existing personnel.

Author: Senator Marshall