Division of municipalities into wards and redistricting of supervisory and aldermanic districts and appointing a panel to hear challenges to the apportionment of a congressional or legislative district, and hearing certain appeals

The bill also amends the laws governing municipal ward division to ensure that if municipal wards do not accommodate a congressional or legislative redistricting act on its date of enactment, the affected municipalities must change their wards so that their ward divisions enable the election of members of congress and members of the legislature under the redistricting act. Currently, the laws only partially accommodate this process.

Local ward division and redistricting timeline Currently, within 60 days after the decennial population count, by block, becomes available from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, but no later than July 1 of each year following the year of the census, each county board of supervisors must submit to each municipality having territory in the county a tentative supervisory district plan or a description of boundary requirements for such a plan. Within 60 days after the receipt of this information from the county board of each county in which a municipality is located, each municipality having a population of 1,000 or more must adopt or readjust wards in accordance with statutory population parameters. In enacting or adopting its plan, a municipality must make a good faith effort to reflect the county's requirements in enacting a supervisory district plan.

Within 60 days after every municipality having territory within a county enacts or adopts a ward division plan, the county must enact a final supervisory district plan combining contiguous whole wards to form supervisory districts.

This bill shortens the maximum time specified for action at each of the above stages of the redistricting process to 45 days, effective beginning with ward divisions and redistricting in response to the 2020 federal decennial census.

Municipal ward plan revisions Currently, under the state constitution, the legislature is directed to redistrict legislative districts according to the number of inhabitants at its next session following each federal census. At the same intervals, the legislature also reapportions congressional districts in this state pursuant to federal law. Under current state law, following each decennial federal census, most municipalities are also required to divide their territory into wards, and counties and cities are required to redistrict supervisory and aldermanic districts so that the districts contain, as nearly as practicable, an equal number of inhabitants according to the census results. With limited exceptions, wards are required to consist of one or more whole, contiguous census blocks (the smallest geographic units for which census results are available). Counties and municipalities are required to complete this action in three steps, which in no case may conclude later than 180 days after publication of the census results. (Usually, the process begins in April and ends in October of the year following the year of the census.) If counties or municipalities fail to adopt division plans, the courts may do so upon petition by interested parties. Revised county and municipal district plans are used to elect members of county boards of supervisors and common councils in the spring of the second year following the year of the census.

The legislative and congressional redistricting plans are used to elect members of the legislature and members of congress in the fall of the second year following the year of the census. The legislature may subdivide or adjust the boundaries of a municipal ward and use the revised ward boundaries to create a legislative or congressional district.

This bill amends various laws to facilitate the legislative and congressional redistricting process and directs counties and municipalities to revise their ward and districting plans to reflect any legislative act establishing a legislative or congressional district boundary that does not coincide with a ward or municipal boundary.

The bill also provides that when a municipality is consolidated with another municipality, the governing body of the consolidated municipality must revise its municipal ward plan to the extent required to effect the change. Currently, the statutes do not address this issue.

County supervisory district plans Currently, within 60 days after publication of the federal decennial census, each county must adopt a tentative county supervisory district plan. Each municipality must adopt a ward division plan, if it is required to do so, within 60 days after the county or counties in which the municipality is located adopt a tentative county supervisory district plan, and each county then must adopt a final supervisory district plan within 60 days after every municipality in the county adopts a ward division plan, if it is required to do so. Currently, the tentative plan must include suggested boundaries or information concerning the number of supervisors to be elected and a description of boundary requirements.

This bill provides that a final county supervisory district plan must not be inconsistent with the tentative plan except to accommodate authorized municipal ward divisions or to reflect an official correction to the census. The bill also applies to amended supervisory district plans in counties other than Milwaukee and Menominee the same standards with respect to contiguity, compactness, numbering, and applicability that apply to amended plans in Milwaukee County. In addition, the bill applies to tentative district plans in Milwaukee County the same standards with respect to contiguity that apply to final district plans in that county.

Incorporation of census corrections Currently, decennial ward division plans, as well as decennial county supervisory and city aldermanic district plans, are based on the federal decennial census. The statutes do not treat the issue of corrections that the U.S. Bureau of the Census issues. This bill provides that the ward plans and aldermanic district plans shall reflect the census results, including any corrections, for the populations of counties, municipalities, and census blocks on April 1 of the year of the census, if corrections are issued prior to adoption of a decennial ward plan, or if a municipality that is affected by a correction is not divided into wards, prior to adoption of a county supervisory district plan.

Amended aldermanic district plans The bill makes an amended aldermanic district plan that may be adopted in certain cities in response to an intradecade county supervisory district plan subject to the same passage and notice requirements, and district composition requirements, that apply currently to original decennial aldermanic district plans.

Under current law, absent members are not included in determining passage requirements and there are no notice and district composition requirements for these amended plans.

Challenges to apportionment of congressional and legislative districts;

hearing of appeals This bill requires the supreme court to assign a three-judge panel to hear any matter that seeks to challenge the apportionment of a congressional or legislative district. Under the bill, the supreme court must choose a judge from each of three circuits and designate one circuit as having venue for purposes of hearings and filing documents.

Under the bill, no party may seek to substitute any of the assigned judges and any appeal of the panel's decisions are to be heard directly by the supreme court.

Minor and technical changes The bill also makes other minor technical changes in the law to facilitate the ward division and county and municipal redistricting process.