11-135. Filing of petition; review;
certification of results
A. Completed petitions shall be filed with the secretary of state. All copies and
counterparts of the petition shall be filed at the same time.
B. The secretary of state shall not accept the petition unless the signatures have
been obtained and the petition is submitted for filing, within two hundred seventy days
after the filing of the notice of intention to circulate petitions. If the petition does
not meet this requirement, the petition is insufficient and the secretary of state shall
file it as a public record without prejudice to the filing of a new petition and
immediately notify the person or organization proposing the new counties stating the
reason for the insufficiency.
C. On receipt of a petition which meets the requirements of subsection B, the
secretary of state shall immediately transmit a copy to the county recorder of each
affected county with an order to examine the signatures from his respective county within
twenty days. The recorder shall compare the names of a random sampling of at least five
per cent of the persons from his county signing the petition with the county registration
records and certify the results to the secretary of state.
D. After the secretary of state receives the results from all affected county
recorders, he shall determine whether the petition is sufficient. If the petition is
insufficient, the secretary of state shall immediately notify by certified mail the
person or organization proposing the formation of the new counties and the clerk of the
board of supervisors of each affected county stating the reason for the insufficiency and
file the petition as a public record without prejudice to the filing of a new
petition. If the petition is sufficient, the secretary of state shall immediately
transmit copies of his certification to the person or organization proposing the new
counties, the clerk of the board of supervisors of each affected county, the president of
the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, each legislator whose district
is in an affected county, the attorney general and the governor.
E. A petition may not be filed under this section within three years of the date of
certification of a prior petition which included in its description of boundaries for a
proposed county any territory which is the subject of the new petition.
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