Article 1. Initiation of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 12. >> Part 2.7. >> Chapter 3. >> Article 1.

A new district may be formed pursuant to this chapter.

A proposal to form a new district may be made by petition which shall do all of the following:
  (a) State that the proposal is made pursuant to this article.
  (b) Set forth a description of the boundaries of the territory to be included in the district.
  (c) Set forth the methods by which the district will be financed.
  (d) State the reasons for forming the district.
  (e) Propose a name for the district.
  (f) Designate no more than three persons as chief petitioners, setting forth their names and mailing addresses.
  (g) State whether the formation is consistent with the sphere of influence of any affected city or affected district.
  (h) Specify the number of members of the initial board of directors and the method of their selection, as provided by Article 3 (commencing with Section 13834).
  (i) Request that proceedings be taken for the formation pursuant to this chapter.

(a) Before circulating any petition, the chief petitioners shall publish a notice of intention which shall include a written statement not to exceed 500 words in length, setting forth the reasons for forming the district. The notice shall be published pursuant to Section 6061 of the Government Code in one or more newspapers of general circulation within the territory proposed to be included in the district. If the territory proposed to be included in the district is located in more than one county, publication of the notice shall be made in at least one newspaper of general circulation in each of the counties.
  (b) The notice shall be signed by at least one, but not more than three, chief petitioners and shall be in substantially the following form:

"Notice of Intent to Circulate Petition

Notice is hereby given of the intention to circulate a petition proposing to form the ______ (name of the district). The reasons for the proposal are: ______."

(c) Within five days after the date of publication, the chief petitioners shall file with the executive officer of the local agency formation commission of the principal county a copy of the notice together with an affidavit made by a representative of the newspaper in which the notice was published certifying to the fact of publication.
  (d) After the filing required pursuant to subdivision (c), the petition may be circulated for signatures.

The petition shall be signed by not less than 25 percent of the registered voters residing in the area to be included in the district, as determined by the local agency formation commission pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 56375 of the Government Code. Sections 100 and 104 of the Elections Code shall govern the signing of the petition and the format of the petition.

A petition may consist of a single instrument or separate counterparts. The chief petitioner or petitioners shall file the petition, including all counterparts, with the executive officer of the local agency formation commission of the principal county. The executive officer shall not accept a petition for filing unless the signatures have been secured within six months of the date on which the first signature was obtained and the chief petitioner or petitioners submitted the petition to the executive officer for filing within 60 days after the last signature was obtained.

(a) Within 30 days after the date of filing a petition, the executive officer of the local agency formation commission shall cause the petition to be examined and shall prepare a certificate of sufficiency indicating whether the petition is signed by the requisite number of signers.
  (b) The executive officer shall cause the names of the signers on the petition to be compared with the voters' register in the office of the county clerk or registrar of voters and ascertain (i) the number of registered voters in the territory to be included in the district, and (ii) the number of qualified signers appearing upon the petition.
  (c) If the certificate of the executive officer shows the petition to be insufficient, the executive officer shall immediately give notice by certified mail of the insufficiency to the chief petitioners. That mailed notice shall state in what amount the petition is insufficient. Within 15 days after the date of the notice of insufficiency, the chief petitioners may file with the executive officer a supplemental petition bearing additional signatures.
  (d) Within 10 days after the date of filing a supplemental petition, the executive officer shall examine the supplemental petition and certify in writing the results of his or her examination.
  (e) The executive officer shall sign and date a certificate of sufficiency. That certificate shall also state the minimum signature requirements for a sufficient petition and show the results of the executive officer's examination. The executive officer shall mail a copy of the certificate of sufficiency to the chief petitioners.

(a) A proposal to form a new district may also be made by the adoption of a resolution of application by the legislative body of any county or city which contains territory proposed to be included in the district. Except for the provisions regarding the signers and signatures, and the chief petitioners, a resolution of application shall contain all of the matters specified for a petition in Section 13816. Before submitting a resolution of application, the legislative body shall conduct a public hearing on the resolution.
  (b) Notice of the hearing shall be published pursuant to Section 6061 of the Government Code in one or more newspapers of general circulation within the county or city.
  (c) At the hearing, the legislative body shall give any person an opportunity to present his or her views on the resolution.
  (d) The clerk of the legislative body shall file a certified copy of the resolution of application with the executive officer of the local agency formation commission of the principal county.

Once the chief petitioners have filed a sufficient petition or a legislative body has filed a resolution or application, the local agency formation commission shall proceed pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 56825) of Part 3 of Division 3 of Title 5 of the Government Code.