BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE
Senator Lois Wolk, Chair
BILL NO: AB 254 HEARING: 5/15/13
AUTHOR: Dahle FISCAL: No
VERSION: 2/6/13 TAX LEVY: No
CONSULTANT: Austin
MODOC COUNTY'S REGISTRAR OF VOTERS
Authorizes the Modoc County Board of Supervisors to appoint
a registrar of voters separate from the county clerk.
Background and Existing Law
In most counties, the county clerk is an elected officer
who serves both as clerk of the board of supervisors and as
registrar of voters.
State law authorizes supervisors in 12 counties (El Dorado,
Imperial, Kings, Lake, Marin, Merced, Monterey, Napa,
Riverside, San Joaquin, Solano, and Tulare) to appoint a
registrar of voters separate from the county clerk.
Supervisors in seven of those counties separately appoint a
registrar of voters. In Mono County, voters authorized
county supervisors to appoint a county
clerk-recorder-registrar of voters.
The California Constitution allows a county to adopt a
voter-approved charter that provides for consolidating and
separating county officers and specifies the manner of
filling vacant county offices.
Modoc County is a general law county located in the
northeast corner of California, bounded by the state of
Oregon to the north and Nevada to the east. As of the 2010
U.S. census, its population was 9,686. The Modoc County
Board of Supervisors is the governing body of the county
and a number of special districts.
In 2011, Imperial County was added to the list of counties
authorized to appoint a registrar of voters separate from
the county clerk (SB 66, Vargas, 2011). Modoc County seeks
the same authority.
AB 254 -- 2/6/13 -- Page 2
Proposed Law
Senate Bill 254 authorizes the Modoc County Board of
Supervisors to appoint a registrar of voters separate from
the county clerk.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . As a small county with limited
resources, the Modoc County Board of Supervisors is looking
for ways to better serve their community, be efficient, and
save money. One way to reduce costs is to allow the Board
of Supervisors to appoint a registrar of voters. Modoc
County supervisors want the Legislature to grant them the
same statutory authority to appoint a registrar of voters
that it has granted to 12 other counties.
2. Home rule . By adopting a county charter, local voters
can empower their county supervisors to appoint a registrar
of voters to act as the county's elections officer; they
don't need to wait for the Legislature to act. Rather than
pursue legislation, the Board of Supervisors could put a
measure on the ballot. The Committee may wish to consider
whether Modoc County voters should get to decide whether
the responsibility for Modoc County's elections should be
transferred from an elected official to an appointed
official.
Support and Opposition (5/9/13)
Support : Modoc County Board of Supervisors; Rural County
Representatives of California (RCRC).
Opposition : Unknown.
AB 254 -- 2/6/13 -- Page 3