S.F. 26 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 331.331 Duties relating to county 1 seats —— petition. 2 1. a. If a petition meeting the requirements of section 3 331.306 and subsection 5 of this section is filed with the 4 board of supervisors proposing a public measure to relocate 5 a county seat, establish an additional county seat, or 6 consolidate county seats, the board shall direct the county 7 commissioner of elections to submit the question on the 8 public measure to the registered voters of the county. 9 Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the 10 public measure may only be submitted to the electorate at the 11 general election for the office of president of the United 12 States next following the filing of the petition. 13 b. The board shall propose a plan to implement the 14 relocation, establishment, or consolidation within two 15 years, and shall gather information on costs associated 16 with implementing the plan and associated changes to county 17 emergency services. 18 2. a. The question to relocate a county seat shall be 19 submitted to the electors in substantially the following form: 20 Shall the county seat for (name of county) be relocated from 21 (name of city serving as county seat) to (name of city named on 22 the petition)? 23 b. The question to establish an additional county seat shall 24 be submitted to the electors in substantially the following 25 form: 26 Shall (name of county), with its county seat located at (name 27 of city serving as county seat), establish an additional county 28 seat at (name of city named on the petition)? 29 c. The question to consolidate county seats shall be 30 submitted to the electors in substantially the following form: 31 Shall the county seats for (name of county) be consolidated 32 from (name of city serving as county seat) and (name of 33 city serving as county seat) to (name of city named on the 34 petition)? 35 -1- LSB 1015XS (4) 86 aw/sc 1/ 3

S.F. 26 3. If a ballot includes a question under subsection 2, 1 the notice of election published pursuant to section 49.53 2 shall include a brief description of the proposed relocation, 3 establishment, or consolidation and a summary of information 4 provided by the board on costs associated with implementing 5 the board’s plan and associated changes to county emergency 6 services if the public measure is adopted. 7 4. A public measure under subsection 2 is adopted if 8 the vote cast in favor of the question is equal to at least 9 sixty percent of the total votes cast for and against the 10 question. If the public measure is adopted, the board shall, 11 notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, proceed 12 to implement its plan to relocate, establish, or consolidate 13 county seats. 14 5. a. The board shall dismiss a petition filed under this 15 section as invalid if adoption of the public measure would 16 result in a violation of section 331.332. 17 b. The board shall dismiss a petition filed under this 18 section as invalid if it is filed with the board less than 19 eighty-two days before the next general election for the office 20 of president of the United States. 21 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 331.332 County seats —— limitations. 22 1. A county shall have at least one, and not more than two, 23 county seats at any one time. 24 2. The county seat must be located within the county. 25 EXPLANATION 26 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 27 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 28 This bill requires a county, upon filing of a valid 29 petition, to submit to the voters a public measure to relocate, 30 establish, or consolidate county seats. 31 The bill provides that if a valid petition is filed with 32 the board of supervisors, proposing a public measure to 33 relocate a county seat, establish an additional county seat, 34 or consolidate county seats, the board shall propose a plan 35 -2- LSB 1015XS (4) 86 aw/sc 2/ 3

S.F. 26 to implement the relocation, establishment, or consolidation 1 within two years. 2 The bill requires the county commissioner of elections 3 to submit the public measure to the registered voters at the 4 general election for the office of president of the United 5 States next following the filing of the petition. A public 6 measure to relocate, establish, or consolidate a county seat is 7 adopted if the vote cast in favor is at least 60 percent of the 8 total votes cast for and against the public measure. The board 9 is required to implement its plan to relocate, establish, or 10 consolidate county seats if the public measure is adopted. 11 The bill provides that the notice of election required to 12 be published shall contain a brief description of the proposed 13 relocation, establishment, or consolidation and a summary of 14 information provided by the board of supervisors on costs 15 associated with implementing its plan and associated changes to 16 county emergency services if the measure is adopted. 17 The bill requires a county to have at least one, but not more 18 than two, county seats at any one time and that a county seat 19 must be located within the county. The bill requires that the 20 board of supervisors dismiss a petition as invalid if adoption 21 of the public measure would violate these requirements or if 22 the petition is filed less than 82 days before the next general 23 election for the office of president of the United States. 24 -3- LSB 1015XS (4) 86 aw/sc 3/ 3