Title GOV — California Gov. Code

With the exception of penalties and interest collected pursuant to Section 22556, and except as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 22600, moneys received by the board from public agencies under the provisions of this part may be deposited in the Old Age and Survivors’ Insuran…

Deficiencies or excesses occurring in the Old Age and Survivors’ Insurance Revolving Fund by reason of differences of a fraction of a cent in contributions or other amounts paid by a public agency under the provisions of this part shall be offset proportionately against the charg…

New counties may be formed and created from portions of one or more existing counties solely pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

As used in this chapter: (a) “Affected county” means each county from which territory is proposed to be transferred to create a new county. (b) “Approved county” means the territory to be included in a new county after the registered voters in the affected county or counties have…

Any action to determine the validity of the formation of a county pursuant to this chapter shall be brought pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 860) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

A proposed county shall not be created if: (a) The population of any affected county shall be reduced to less than 20,000. (b) The population of the proposed county shall be less than 10,000. (c) The area of any affected county will be reduced to less than 1,200 square miles. The…

Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (c) of Section 23306, a county may be created from the territory of Nevada County provided that the territory which is proposed to be transferred from such county does not exceed 25 percent of the total territory of such county.

No boundary line of a proposed county shall pass through or divide the territory of any incorporated city.

Proceedings under this chapter shall not be subject to the provisions of Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 54773) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5, relating to local agency formation commissions.

Proceedings for the creation of a proposed county shall be initiated by petition. Any such petition shall contain the following: (a) An accurate description of the boundaries of the proposed county. (b) A statement that such boundaries do not pass through or divide the territory …

(a) Where the population of the proposed county is less than 5 percent of the total population of the affected counties, a petition initiating proceedings shall be signed by qualified electors residing within the territory of the proposed county as described in the petition equal…

A petition may consist of a single instrument or several counterparts.

A petition may designate not more than three persons as chief petitioners setting forth their names and mailing addresses.

(a) Before circulating any petition pursuant to this article, the proponents shall file with the clerk as provided in Section 23325, a notice of intention to do so. The notice shall be accompanied by a printed statement not exceeding 500 words in length, stating the objectives to…

All petitions shall be filed with (a) the clerk of the county from which the new county is to be formed if it is to be formed from but one county, or (b) the clerk of the principal county if it is to be formed from portions of two or more counties. All counterparts of a petition …

Within 30 days after the date of filing of a petition, the clerk of the principal county shall examine the petition and determine whether it is signed by the requisite number of signers. When the clerk has completed his examination, he shall certify the results of his examination…

If the clerk certifies a petition to be insufficient he shall give mailed notice thereof to each of the chief petitioners, if any, and file the petition as a public record without prejudice to the filing of a new petition.

If the clerk certifies a petition to be sufficient, he shall immediately transmit a copy of his certification to the board of supervisors of each affected county and to each of the chief petitioners, if any.

In certifying the sufficiency of a petition, the clerk shall compare the name of each person signing the petition with the registration records of the county in which the person signing the petition resides.

Upon certification of a petition, the board of the principal county shall forthwith transmit a copy of the petition certification to the Governor.

No person shall file a petition pursuant to this article within five years of the date of certification, pursuant to Section 23328, of a prior petition which included in its description of boundaries for the proposed county any territory which is the subject of the new petition. …

Upon receipt of notice pursuant to Section 23330, the Governor shall create a County Formation Review Commission to review the proposed county creation, and appoint five persons to be members of the commission. Of the five persons appointed to the commission, two shall reside wit…

The commission shall determine all of the following: (a) A fair, just, and equitable distribution, as between each affected county and the proposed county, of the indebtedness of each affected county. (b) The fiscal impact of the proposed county creation on each affected county. …

In determining the fiscal impact of the creation of the proposed county on the affected county or counties and the economic viability of the proposed county, the commission shall consider: (a) The cost of providing services in the proposed county and in each affected county. (b) …

Except as otherwise provided in this article, the commission may, in determining a fair, just and equitable distribution of the indebtedness of each affected county, as between each affected county and the proposed county, provide for one or more of the following: (a) The payment…

Within 10 days after notice and acceptance of their appointment, the members of the commission shall meet at the principal administrative office of the principal county and organize by electing from their number a chairman. They shall also appoint a secretary who shall not be a m…

The commission shall hear any protests and objections to and any support for the creation of the proposed county. Notices of the hearing shall be given pursuant to Section 6061 in a newspaper of general circulation published in each affected county. In addition, the board shall c…

On the date and at the time fixed for hearing, the commission shall hear all protests and objections to and all support for the creation of the proposed county, and may grant or deny any requests for exclusion from, or inclusion in, the proposed county filed pursuant to Sections …

At any time prior to the final hearing on the creation of the new county, any owner of real property contiguous to the boundary line of the proposed county may make a written request, filed with the commission, for exclusion of such person’s property from, or inclusion of such pe…

Written requests for exclusion from, or inclusion in, the proposed county of any territory contiguous to the boundary of the proposed county may be filed with the commission by any registered elector of the territory. Such a request shall contain sufficient information to identif…

By citation or subpoena signed by its chairman and secretary, the commission may compel the attendance of such persons and the production of such books, papers and other documents before it as it deems necessary for the performance of its duties.

All officers and employees of any state agency, board, or commission and any affected county shall cooperate with, perform any functions required by, and produce any books, records or other documents requested by the commission and necessary for the performance of the commission’…

Anything in a county or city and county charter to the contrary notwithstanding, the commission, in lieu of using the county counsel of the affected county, may appoint a counsel and fix and order paid such counsel’s compensation to provide legal assistance to the commission in t…

The commission shall adopt a resolution making its determination and transmit its report in writing to the board of supervisors of each affected county, within 180 days of the date of notice and acceptance by the last appointed member and shall be signed and attested to by all th…

The determinations of the commission shall become the terms and conditions for creation of the proposed county. Further, the commission may impose additional terms and conditions as it deems necessary to ensure an efficient and effective transition. All terms and conditions shall…

Members of the commission shall receive as compensation a per diem not to exceed fifty dollars ($50) a day for every day they are actually employed together with their actual expenses incurred in performing their duties. If the proposed county is created, all expenses of the comm…

(a) The commission may borrow those moneys as may be necessary to meet its expenses until the costs of the commission have been determined pursuant to Section 23343. (b) As an alternative to the procedure authorized by subdivision (a), the Controller, upon appropriation by the Le…

Upon receiving the commission’s determinations, the board of supervisors of each affected county shall order and give proclamation and notice of an election to be held in each affected county on the same specified day which shall be the next statewide primary or general election …

The proclamation and notice of election provided for pursuant to this article shall be published at least once a week for three weeks commencing not less than 70 days prior to the date of the election in a newspaper of general circulation in each affected county.

If the election for the purpose of determining whether the proposed county shall be created results in the county being created, an election for purposes of determining the location of the county seat and the selection of county officers shall be held in the approved county at th…

The notice of election shall: (a) State distinctly the propositions to be submitted. (b) State the names of the affected county or counties. (c) State the date of the election. (d) Designate the election precincts and places at which the polls will be open as established by the b…

All qualified electors of each affected county who have been voters of the county 29 days prior to the date of the election are entitled to vote at the election. Registration and transfers of registration shall be made and shall close in the manner and at the times provided by la…

Ballots at the election shall contain the question: “Shall the new County of (insert the name of the proposed county) be formed?” To the right of or below the question, the words “Yes” and “No” shall be printed on separate lines, with voting targets. If a voter marks the voting t…

The election shall be governed and controlled by the general election laws of the state so far as applicable, except as otherwise provided in this article.

If more than one argument for or more than one argument against creation of the proposed county is filed with the clerk of the principal county the clerk shall select one of the arguments for and one of the arguments against creation of the proposed county for printing and distri…

The elections official shall cause a ballot pamphlet concerning the proposed county formation to be printed and mailed to each qualified elector of each affected county. The ballot pamphlet shall contain the following in the order prescribed: (a) An impartial analysis of the crea…

The clerk shall also prepare and mail to the qualified electors of each affected county a sample ballot. The sample ballot shall be mailed with and at the same time as the ballot pamphlet.

The law relating to the preparation, printing, and distribution of sample ballots and primary elections does not apply to any election held pursuant to this article.

Except as otherwise provided by this article, the election shall be conducted as other elections in the principal county.

The board of each affected county shall appoint as election officers three representatives who reside in the affected county represented and in the boundaries of the proposed new county, and each board shall pay its representatives.