§ 32-540 — Metropolitan utilities district; board of directors; election subdivisions; board; duties; nonpartisan ballot; terms; qualifications

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection
(2) of this section, in each metropolitan utilities district service
area, two of the members of the board of directors shall be chosen at large
by the registered voters within the district at the time of the statewide
primary and statewide general elections held in the even-numbered years, except
that at the primary and general elections held in 1978 and every six years
thereafter, three members, one of whom shall be known as the outside member,
shall be elected at large by the registered voters within the district.
(2)(a) The
board of directors of a metropolitan utilities district may by resolution
provide for the division of the territory of the district into seven election
subdivisions composed of substantially equal population and compact and contiguous
territory and number the subdivisions consecutively. One member of the board
of directors shall be elected from each subdivision.
(b) If the board of directors
provides for seven election subdivisions prior to February 1, 2016, the board
of directors shall assign each position on the board of directors to represent
a numbered election subdivision for the remainder of the term of office for
which the member is elected, regardless of whether the member resides in the
subdivision, and shall make such assignments so that members representing
election subdivisions numbered one and two hold office until the first Tuesday
after the first Monday in January 2019 or until their successors are elected
and qualified, members representing election subdivisions numbered three,
four, and five hold office until the first Tuesday after the first Monday
in January 2021 or until their successors are elected and qualified, and members
representing election subdivisions six and seven hold office until the first
Tuesday after the first Monday in January 2023 or until their successors are
elected and qualified.
(c) A successor who resides in the numbered election subdivision
shall be nominated and elected at the statewide primary and general elections
held in the calendar year prior to the expiration of the term of the member
who represents such numbered election subdivision.
(d) After each federal
decennial census, the board of directors shall create new boundaries for the
election subdivisions. In establishing the boundaries of the election subdivisions,
the board of directors shall follow county lines wherever practicable, shall
provide for the subdivisions to be composed of substantially equal population
and compact and contiguous territory, and shall, as nearly as possible, follow
the precinct lines created by the election commissioner or county clerk after
each federal decennial census.
(3) Nomination and election of all directors
shall be by nonpartisan ballot. Except as provided in subsection (2) of
this section, members of the board shall hold office for a period
of six years from the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January following
their election or until their successors are elected and qualified. The directors
shall meet the qualifications found in sections 14-2102 and 14-2103 .

Legislative History

Source: Laws 1994, LB 76, § 136; Laws 2014, LB1014, § 3.