Article 2.5. Election On Formation of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 14. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 2.5.

The board shall call and give notice of an election to be held in the proposed district to determine whether the district shall be formed, and to elect the commissioners who shall serve as the first district board.

Within five days after the district formation election has been called, the legislative body which has called the election shall transmit, by registered mail, a written notification of the election call to the executive officer of the local agency formation commission of the county or principal county in which the territory or major portion of the territory of the proposed district is located. Such written notice shall include the name and a description of the proposed district, and may be in the form of a certified copy of the resolution adopted by the legislative body calling the district formation election. The executive officer, within five days after being notified that a district formation election has been called, shall submit to the commission, for its approval or modification, an impartial analysis of the proposed district formation. The impartial analysis shall not exceed 500 words in length and shall include a specific description of the boundaries of the district proposed to be formed. The local agency formation commission, within five days after the receipt of the executive officer's analysis, shall approve or modify the analysis and submit it to the officials in charge of conducting the district formation election.

The board of supervisors or any member or members of the board authorized by the board, or any individual voter or bona fide association of citizens entitled to vote on the district formation proposition, or any combination of such voters and associations of citizens, may file a written argument for or a written argument against the proposed district formation. Arguments shall not exceed 300 words in length and shall be filed with the officials in charge of conducting the election not less than 54 days prior to the date of the district formation election.

If more than one argument for or more than one argument against the proposed district formation is filed with the election officials within the time prescribed, such election officials shall select one of the arguments for printing and distribution to the voters. In selecting the arguments, the election officials shall give preference and priority in the order named to the arguments of the following:
  (a) The board of supervisors or any member or members of the board authorized by the board.
  (b) Individual voters or bona fide associations of citizens or a combination of such voters and associations.

The elections officials in charge of conducting the election shall cause a ballot pamphlet concerning the district formation proposition to be voted on to be printed and mailed to each voter entitled to vote on the district formation question. The ballot pamphlet shall contain the following, in the order prescribed:
  (a) The complete text of the proposition.
  (b) The impartial analysis of the proposition, prepared by the local agency formation commission.
  (c) The argument for the proposed district formation.
  (d) The argument against the proposed district formation. The elections officials shall mail a ballot pamphlet to each voter entitled to vote in the district formation election at least 10 days prior to the date of the election. The ballot pamphlet is "official matter" within the meaning of Section 13303 of the Elections Code.

The notice of the formation election shall contain:
  (a) The date of the election.
  (b) A description of the boundaries of the proposed district.
  (c) The name of the proposed police protection district, which shall contain the words "Police Protection District of ____ County" (stating the name of the county in which the district is to be located).
  (d) A statement that the commissioners who will serve as the first district board will be elected.

The county clerk shall publish the notice of election once a week for at least two weeks prior to the formation election, in a newspaper printed and published in the district, if any, and if none, shall give such notice by posting the notice in three public places within the district for at least three weeks immediately preceding the election.

At the formation election the first directors shall be elected and the following measure shall be submitted: "Shall the proposition to form ______ Police Protection District of ______ County be adopted?"

No person shall be a candidate for the district board unless he is a resident within the boundaries of the proposed district.

The election shall be conducted, candidates nominated, the votes canvassed, and the results declared as provided by the Elections Code for election of county officers, insofar as applicable and not inconsistent with this chapter. Each person voting at the formation election shall be entitled to cast three votes for candidates for members of the first district board. The three candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected as the first district board if the district is formed.

If a majority of votes cast are in favor of forming the district, the board of supervisors shall by an order entered on its minutes declare the district formed under the name designated for it.

No person is entitled to vote on the question of formation of a district, or for the first board of commissioners, unless that person is a voter within the meaning of the Elections Code, and a resident within the boundaries of the proposed district.