House Joint Resolution 2005 - Introduced HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 2005 BY HIGHFILL HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION A Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution 1 of the State of Iowa relating to the creation of fewer 2 counties. 3 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 5935YH (3) 86 aw/rj

H.J.R. 2005 Section 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of 1 the State of Iowa is proposed: 2 1. The last paragraph of Article III, Section 30 of the 3 Constitution of the State of Iowa is amended to read as 4 follows: 5 In all the cases above enumerated, and in all other cases 6 where a general law can be made applicable, all laws shall 7 be general, and of uniform operation throughout the state ; 8 and . Except as otherwise provided in article III, section 30A, 9 no law changing the boundary lines of any county shall have 10 effect until upon being submitted to the people of the counties 11 affected by the change, at a general election, it shall be 12 approved by a majority of the votes in each county, cast for 13 and against it. 14 2. Article III of the Constitution of the State of Iowa is 15 amended by adding the following new sections: 16 Number of counties. SEC. 30A. The general assembly shall 17 by September 1, 2021, create by law forty counties in the 18 state of Iowa. For the purposes of creating a county under 19 this section, the general assembly shall consider each county 20 existing on January 1, 2021, to be a single indivisible unit, 21 but may provide for the combination of contiguous counties 22 existing on that date into a newly created county. If the 23 creation of forty counties fails to become law by September 24 15, 2021, the supreme court shall, prior to December 31, 25 2021, cause the creation of forty counties to comply with the 26 requirements in this section. 27 Review by supreme court. SEC. 30B. Upon verified 28 application by any qualified elector, the supreme court shall 29 review the creation of counties by the general assembly by 30 law. Should the supreme court determine that such creation 31 does not comply with the requirements of this constitution, 32 the court shall within ninety days cause the creation to so 33 comply. The supreme court shall have original jurisdiction 34 of all litigation questioning the creation of counties by the 35 -1- LSB 5935YH (3) 86 aw/rj 1/ 3

H.J.R. 2005 general assembly by law. 1 Sec. 2. REFERRAL AND PUBLICATION. The foregoing proposed 2 amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa is referred 3 to the general assembly to be chosen at the next general 4 election for members of the general assembly, and the secretary 5 of state is directed to cause the proposed amendment to be 6 published for three consecutive months previous to the date of 7 that election as provided by law. 8 EXPLANATION 9 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 10 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 11 This joint resolution proposes an amendment to the 12 Constitution of the State of Iowa requiring the creation of 40 13 counties in Iowa in 2021. 14 The amendment requires the general assembly to create 40 15 counties by September 1, 2021. Under the amendment, the 16 general assembly is required to consider each county existing 17 on January 1, 2021, as an indivisible unit, but allows the 18 general assembly to provide for the combination of contiguous 19 counties into a newly created county. If, by September 15, 20 2021, no law has been enacted to create 40 counties, the Iowa 21 supreme court is then required to create 40 counties before 22 December 31, 2021. The amendment provides the supreme court 23 with original jurisdiction over litigation relating to the 24 creation of counties. If the supreme court determines the 25 general assembly’s creation of counties to be unconstitutional, 26 the amendment requires the supreme court to cause the creation 27 of counties conforming to constitutional requirements, within 28 90 days following the determination. 29 Under the amendment, the designation of counties takes 30 place in the same year as the apportionment of senator and 31 representative districts following the 2020 federal decennial 32 census. 33 The amendment does not modify the authority of the voters 34 of two or more counties to change their county boundary lines 35 -2- LSB 5935YH (3) 86 aw/rj 2/ 3

H.J.R. 2005 at a general election under article III, section 30 of the 1 Constitution of the State of Iowa. The amendment also does not 2 modify the requirement in the article III, section 37 of the 3 Constitution of the State of Iowa, prohibiting the division of 4 counties in forming federal congressional districts. 5 The resolution, if adopted, would be referred to the next 6 general assembly for adoption before being submitted to the 7 electorate for ratification. 8 -3- LSB 5935YH (3) 86 aw/rj 3/ 3