BILL NUMBER: AB 1676 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 24, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fuentes
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Jeffries and Solorio)
JANUARY 21, 2010
An act to add Section 1065 to the Government Code, relating to
elected officials.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1676, as amended, Fuentes. Elected officials: residency
requirements.
The California Constitution requires that a person reside
for one year within the legislative district for which he or she
seeks election as a Member of the Legislature. Various statutory
provisions impose Existing law imposes residency
requirements on other specified elected officials
in California. The California Constitution provides that each
house of the Legislature is the sole judge of the qualifications of
its Members.
This bill would require that a person elected to the
Legislature, or a nonjudicial public office for a county,
city, or school district, maintain his or her place of residence
within the jurisdiction within which voters are qualified to vote for
the office during his or her term of office. The bill would require
a person who violates this provision to immediately forfeit his or
her office and would disqualify the person from holding any state or
local public office for a period of 3 years. The bill would provide
that these provisions would apply to all persons holding a
nonjudicial, public office for a county, city, or school district on
or after the effective date of the bill. As to persons holding these
offices serving terms of office that commence on or after November 2,
2010, the bill would also make a violation of the residency
requirement punishable by either a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000
or a fine not to exceed $1,000, imprisonment in a county jail for no
more than 6 months, or by both fine and imprisonment. The
bill would provide that its provisions apply to Members of the
Legislature only for terms of office that commence on or after
December 3, 2012. The bill would authorize enforcement of
its provisions by the Attorney General, the district attorney or the
county counsel of a county for a violation involving a nonjudicial
public office whose territory is located wholly or partially within
that county, or by the city attorney of a city for a violation
involving a nonjudicial public office whose territory is located
wholly or partially within that city.
The bill would also provide that Members of the Legislature
should live in the districts that they represent and that each house
of the Legislature should review its rules relative to qualifications
to hold office and amend those rules as appropriate.
By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1065 is added to the Government Code, to read:
1065. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person
elected to the Legislature, or to a nonjudicial
public office for a county, a city, or a school district, shall
continue to maintain his or her place of residence within the
jurisdiction in which voters are qualified to vote for the office
during his or her term of office. A person does not violate this
subdivision if, after being elected for a term of office, the
boundaries of the jurisdiction in which voters are qualified to vote
for the office are changed during that term of office so as to
exclude his or her place of residence.
(b) A person who violates subdivision (a) shall immediately
forfeit his or her office and is disqualified from holding any state
or local public office for a period of three years.
(c) A violation of subdivision (a) is punishable by one of the
following:
(1) A civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(2) By imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding six months, or
by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both
that fine and imprisonment.
(d) An action to enforce this section may be brought by the
Attorney General, the district attorney or county counsel of a county
for a violation involving a nonjudicial public office whose
territory is located wholly or partially within that county, or the
city attorney of a city for a violation involving a nonjudicial
public office whose territory is located wholly or partially within
that city.
(e) (1) As to
Members of the Legislature, this section applies only to terms of
office that commence on or after December 3, 2012. (2)
Subdivisions (a) and (b) apply to all persons
holding a nonjudicial public office for a county, city, or school
district on or after the effective date of the statute that added
this section. Subdivision (c) applies only to persons holding these
offices under terms of office that commence on or after November 2,
2010.
This paragraph does not apply to Members of the Legislature.
SEC. 2. The provisions of this section are severable. If any
provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that
invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can
be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
SEC. 3. The Legislature hereby finds and declares
that, in order to ensure that Members of the Legislature adequately
and effectively represent their constituents, those elected to the
Legislature should reside in the districts that they are elected to
represent. As each house of the Legislature judges its rules relative
to the qualifications to hold office pursuant to Section 5 of
Article IV of the California Constitution, each house of the
Legislature should review its rules relative to qualifications to
hold office and should amend those rules as appropriate.
SEC. 3. SEC. 4. No reimbursement is
required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred
by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this
act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or
infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the
definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII
B of the California Constitution.