Chapter 1. Formation Of District of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 23. >> Chapter 1.

This division shall be known and may be cited as "The Local Health Care District Law." Any reference in any statute to the Local Hospital District Law shall be deemed a reference to the Local Health Care District Law, and any reference in any statute to a hospital district shall be deemed to be a reference to a health care district.

For purposes of this division, both of the following shall apply:
  (a) Any reference to "hospital district" or "district" shall mean "health care district," and any reference to "hospital administrator" or "administrator" shall mean "chief executive officer."
  (b) "Health care facility" shall mean a health facility as defined in Section 1250 and a clinic as defined in Section 1204.

A local hospital district may be organized, incorporated and managed, as provided in this division and may exercise the powers herein granted or necessarily implied. Such a district may include incorporated or unincorporated territory, or both, or territory in any one or more counties. The territory comprising this district need not be contiguous but the territory of a municipal corporation shall not be divided; provided, that land either in a municipal corporation or in unincorporated territory which the supervising authority finds will not be benefited shall not be included.

The manner of formation of local hospital districts, and the conducting of all hospital district elections, unless otherwise provided in this division shall be as in the manner provided, respectively, by Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 58000) of Division 2 of Title 6 of the Government Code, and Part 3 (commencing with Section 10400) and Part 4 (commencing with Section 10500) of Division 10 of the Elections Code. Except as provided in this division, these provisions are hereby incorporated in this division by reference and shall have the same effect and force as if fully set forth herein. In addition to all other requirements regarding formation of hospital districts, no hearing upon the petition to form a hospital district shall be held until comments and recommendations of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and each area health planning agency having territory within the proposed district, concerning the need for new or additional health facilities in the area to be served by the proposed district have been filed with the supervising authority. The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and the area health planning agency or agencies shall submit these comments and recommendations to the supervising authority within 60 days after receiving a request therefor from the proponents. Failure to submit these comments to the supervising body within 60 days shall be deemed to constitute a "no comment" response.

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.

Whenever the formation of a local hospital district is desired, a petition may be presented at a regular meeting of the supervising authority of the county in which the land, or a greater portion of the land, in the proposed district is situated, said petition to be signed by the registered voters residing within the boundaries of the proposed district, equal in number to at least 12 percent of the voters registered within the boundaries of the proposed district 30 days prior to the date the petition is filed. The number of written protests required to terminate the proceedings shall be a majority of the registered voters residing in the proposed district. If a majority of all the votes cast in the proposed district are in favor of organization, the supervising authority by resolution entered on its minutes shall declare the district duly organized under this act, shall give the name of the district as theretofore designated and shall describe the boundaries of such district. The county whose supervising authority declares the district organized shall be designated the "organizing county."