§45-31-100.20. Composition of board; districts.

(a) The Geneva County Board of Education shall consist of five members, each elected from a separate single-member district, nominated and elected by the qualified electors of the district. The members shall take office as provided by general law.

(b)(1) At the election in 2004, members shall be elected to serve terms of office as follows: The members elected from District 1 and District 4 shall serve terms of six years; the members elected from District 2 and District 5 shall serve terms of four years; and the member elected from District 3 shall serve a term of two years.

(2) Upon completion of the terms of office provided in subdivision (1), and thereafter, members shall be elected to serve terms of six years as provided by general law.

(c) Each board member shall be a resident of the single-member district from which the member is elected. The residency shall have been established at least one year before the general election at which the member is elected.

(d) Geneva County, excluding the area located within the corporate limits of the City of Geneva, shall be divided into five districts which shall be substantially equal in population according to the last federal decennial census. The initial boundaries of the districts shall be based upon a map filed in the office of the Judge of Probate of Geneva County by the members of the current Geneva County Board of Education.

(e) Following the release of any federal decennial census, the board, by majority vote, may change the boundaries of the five single-member districts in order to comply with the one-person, one-vote requirement of the federal constitution. Any revised district arrangement to be used, in whole or in part, shall be approved by the board not later than 180 days prior to the election in which it shall first be used.

(f) No change to the boundaries of existing districts shall be adopted by the board unless the board first shall have advertised in a newspaper of general circulation in Geneva County for at least two consecutive weeks the time and place of the meeting at which the change shall be voted upon. The advertisements shall include either a map of the county indicating the proposed district boundaries, or notification that a map indicating the proposed district boundaries is available for inspection at a specific public location, where the map shall be displayed for at least two consecutive weeks preceding the meeting of the board at which the resolution shall be considered, or both.

(g) Any resolution changing district boundaries shall describe the revised district boundaries by reference to standard census units, or county voting precincts, or both.

(h) Upon passage of any resolution effecting changes in district boundaries pursuant to this section, the board shall file with the Geneva County Judge of Probate a certified copy of the resolution, together with a map of the county showing the revised district boundaries.

(i) Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict or limit the freedom of a student to enroll in the school district of his or her choice.

(Act 97-659, p. 1261, §§1-8, 10; Act 2002-458, p. 1197, §1.)