In adopting and publishing rules for the election of supervisors and the registration of district voters, the commission may, to ensure proper representation of district voters and to facilitate district functions, provide for the geographic zoning of a district. The commission shall provide for the proper and equitable representation for each faction geographically zoned in the district. If a district is divided, or if two or more districts are consolidated, the commission shall provide for the geographic zoning of the resulting district or districts within thirty days after the secretary of state issues the certificate of organization for each new district. History: 1953 Comp., § 45-5-54, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 137, § 13; 1973, ch. 324, § 8; 1977, ch. 254, § 69; 2003, ch. 88, § 12. The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, deleted "district" from the section heading; substituted "publishing" for "promulgating" near the beginning of the section, deleted "district" following "election of" near the beginning of the section and substituted "voters" for "landowners" near the middle of the section. Election of soil and water conservation district's board of supervisors must comply with principle of "one person, one vote". — Where petitioner filed a petition for writ of mandamus in the district court objecting to the adoption of geographic voting zones with significantly unequal population for the election of the Dona Ana County Soil and Water Conservation District's board of supervisors, arguing that the voting zones, as drawn, violated the United States Constitution's "one person, one vote" requirement, diluting the voting power of petitioner and the other residents of the zone that includes the City of Las Cruces, and where the district court found that the soil and water conservation commission's approval of the voting zones was not authorized by the legislature, was inconsistent with the commission's statutory duty under 73-20-39 NMSA 1978 of the New Mexico Soil and Water Conservation District Act to ensure proper and equitable representation of district voters, and was in violation of the "one person, one vote" mandate of the United States Constitution, the district court did not err in granting the petition for writ of mandamus, because the inequality in population of the zones conflicted with both 73-20-39 NMSA 1978 and with the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution. Price v. N.M. Soil & Water Conservation Comm'n , 2023-NMCA-011. Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 94 C.J.S. Waters § 320.
‹ Prev All New Mexico sections Next ›
Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.