Assessment of Proposed Redistricting Plans -- Open and Public Meetings -- Public Hearings -- Ex Parte Communications. (1) The Commission shall conduct its activities in an independent, honest, transparent, and impartial manner, and each commissioner and member of Commission, including staff and consultants employed or retained by the Commission, shall act in a manner that reflects creditably on the Commission. (2) The Commission shall meet upon the request of a majority of commissioners. (3) Attendance of a majority of commissioners at a meeting constitutes a quorum for the conduct of Commission business and the taking of official Commission actions. (4) The Commission takes official actions by majority vote of commissioners at a meeting at which a quorum is present, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. (5) (a) The Commission may consider any redistricting plan submitted to the Commission by any person or organization, including commissioners. (b) The Commission shall make available to each commissioner and to the public all plans or elements of plans submitted to the Commission or to any commissioner. (6) Upon the affirmative vote of at least three commissioners, the Commission shall conduct the assessments described in Section 20A-19-103(4) of any redistricting plan being considered by the Commission or by the Legislature, and shall promptly make the assessments available to the public. (7) (a) The Commission shall establish and maintain a website, or other equivalent electronic platform, to disseminate information about the Commission, including records of its meetings and public hearings, proposed redistricting plans, and assessments of and reports on redistricting plans, and to allow the public to view its meetings and public hearings in both live and in archived form. (b) The Commission's website, or other equivalent electronic platform, must allow the public to submit redistricting plans and comments on redistricting plans to the Commission for its consideration. (8) The Commission is subject to Title 52, Chapter 4, Open and Public Meetings Act, Secs. 52-4-101 to 52-4-305, and to Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act, Secs. 63G-2-101 to 63G-2-804. (9) (a) The Commission shall, by majority vote, determine the number, locations, and dates of the public hearings to be held by the Commission, but the Commission shall hold no fewer than seven public hearings throughout the state in connection with each redistricting that is permitted under Section 20A-19-102(1)-(2) as follows: (i) one in the Bear River region--Box Elder, Cache, or Rich County; (ii) one in the Southwest region--Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, or Washington County; (iii) one in the Mountain region--Summit, Utah, or Wasatch County; (iv) one in the Central region--Juab, Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier, or Wayne County; (v) one in the Southeast region--Carbon, Emery, Grand, or San Juan County; (vi) one in the Uintah Basin region--Daggett, Duchesne, or Uintah County; and (vii) one in the Wasatch Front region--Davis, Morgan, Salt Lake, Tooele, or Weber County. (b) The Commission shall hold at least two public hearings in a first or second class county but not in the same county. (10) Each public hearing must provide those in attendance a reasonable opportunity to submit written and oral comments to the Commission and to propose redistricting plans for the Commission's consideration. (11) The Commission must hold the public hearings required under Subsection (9) by: (a) the earlier of the 120th calendar day after the Legislature's receipt of the results of a national decennial enumeration made by the authority of the United States or August 31st of that year; or (b) no later than 120 calendar days after a change in the number of congressional, legislative, or other districts that results from an event other than a national decennial enumeration made by the authority of the United States. (12) (a) A commissioner may not engage in any private communication with any person other than other commissioners, Commission personnel, including consultants retained by the Commission, and employees of the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, that is material to any redistricting plan or element of a plan pending before the Commission or intended to be proposed for Commission consideration, without making the communication, or a detailed and accurate description of the communication including the names of all parties to the communication and the plan or element of the plan, available to the Commission and to the public. (b) A commissioner shall make the disclosure required by Subsection (12)(a) before the redistricting plan or element of a plan is considered by the Commission.
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