§ 49-2-111 — Reapportionment - Effect on school districts

(a) In all counties wherein the school commission, school board, board of education or other designated agency governing the school affairs of the county is, by the terms and provisions of any private or local act of the general assembly applicable to such county, elected from more than one (1) voting district by the persons entitled to vote in the district, and where by decree or judgment of any court of the United States or any court of this state the scheme of apportionment of the membership of such school commission, school board, board of education or other agency as provided by such act heretofore has been declared to be in violation of any provision of the United States Constitution or the Constitution of Tennessee, the school commission, school board, board of education or other agency governing the school affairs of such county is abolished, effective September 1 of the year in which a general election is next held in the county following the entry of the decree or judgment. (b) [See Compiler's Notes] In all such counties within the purview of subsection (a), there is created and established a board of education, effective September 1 of the year in which a general election is next held in such counties following the entry of a decree of judgment of any such court that the scheme of apportionment of the existing school commission, school board, board of education or the other agency is unconstitutional, to be known as the board of education of ______________ County, which shall consist of five (5), seven (7) or nine (9) members to be elected by popular vote of the people of the county, as provided in this section, whose initial members shall be those persons elected by popular vote by the people of the county in the general election to be held in August following the entry of such decree or judgment in the manner provided in this section. (c) Boards of education created and established under this section shall have and possess and shall exercise all of the rights, duties, powers and privileges and shall discharge all of the duties and obligations imposed upon the school boards, school commissions, boards of education or other agencies governing the school affairs of the counties by any such private act applicable to the counties, and are entitled to the same compensation payable to the members of the school boards, school commissions, boards of education or such other agencies of the several counties under the terms of any such private act or acts and that are abolished by the terms of this section. (d) (1) The county legislative body of any county within the purview of subsection (a) is authorized, empowered and directed to cause an accurate census or other determination of population to be taken and reported of the population of the various civil districts in the county or otherwise adopt and pursue a method of determination of population that will permit with a reasonable degree of accuracy the formation of districts with substantially equal population as provided in this section, which census or other determination of population shall be taken and reported no later than the first Monday in April of the year in which a general election is next held in the county following the entry of such decree or judgment of a court, as provided in subsection (a), as the county legislative body shall provide in a proper resolution adopted for that purpose. (2) The county legislative body is further authorized, empowered, and directed to appropriate and expend out of the general funds of the county such sums as may be necessary to defray the cost and expense of taking and reporting the census or other determination of population that it causes to be made. (e) (1) Upon receipt of the report of the census or other determination of population, the county legislative bodies shall, at their regular meeting to be held on the first Monday in April of the year in which a general election is next held in the counties following the entry of the decree or judgment of a court, as provided in subsection (a), or at any adjourned session of the county legislative body, or at any duly called special meeting thereafter, but in any event not later than June 1 of the year, adopt a resolution establishing three (3), five (5), seven (7) or nine (9) school zones or districts, the boundaries of which shall be so geographically arranged in the county that according to the census or other determination of population provided for in subsection (d), each of the three (3), five (5), seven (7) or nine (9) school zones or districts shall have and contain substantially equal numbers of people; provided, that in the establishment of the school zones or districts, no civil district of the county shall be divided unless simultaneously such civil district is divided for all county purposes in the manner provided by law. (2) Whenever a private act applicable to any such county, within the purview of subsection (a), establishes in and for the county the school zones or districts required in this section, which school zones and districts meet the requirement of containing substantially equal population as required in subdivision (e)(1), the county legislative body of the county may, in lieu of establishing the school zones or districts, by census or other method as provided in subsection (d), adopt such districts or zones as established in the private act, but in doing so, it shall be required to make a determination that the districts or zones contain substantially equal population and otherwise meet the requirements of this section. (f) When the county legislative bodies of the several counties within the purview of subsection (a) have complied with this section and established the school zones or districts as provided in subsection (e), there shall be elected from each of the school zones or districts, either by a popular vote of the qualified voters of the county at large or by a popular vote of the qualified voters of each of the school zones or districts, as the county legislative body shall specify in the resolution or private act establishing the districts, one (1) member of the board of education created and established by the terms of this section; provided, that the member elected from any school district or zone must have been a resident for more than one (1) year next preceding the member's election of one (1) or another of the civil districts comprising the school district or zone. (g) The persons who are elected at the August general election next held after the entry of the decree or judgment of any court, as provided in subsection (a), by a popular vote of the qualified voters of the county, shall be elected in accordance with the terms and provisions of § 49-2-201 . (h) No person shall be eligible to be elected as a member of the board of education unless the person has and possesses all of the qualifications required by the general law and by the terms and provisions of any private or local act applicable to the county, with the exception of any qualification based upon residency in any geographical district or zone established in the private or local act. (i) In the event the county legislative body of any county within the purview of subsection (a) fails to comply with this section and causes the census or other determination of population to be taken and reported and thereafter creates the various school zones or districts not later than June 1 of the year in which a general election is next held after the entry of a decree or judgment of any court, as provided in subsection (e), the three (3), five (5), seven (7) or nine (9) members of the board of education created and established in the counties to which this section is applicable shall be elected by the qualified voters of the counties at large without regard to geographical districts, and any person who possesses the qualifications provided by law for membership upon the board of education shall be eligible for election to the board of education without regard to the geographical location of the person's residence in the county. The general election commissions of the several counties within the purview of subsection (a) and wherein the county legislative body of those counties has failed to comply with this section shall hold and conduct an election at the time fixed for the general election of county offices in August next following the entry of a decree or judgment of any court, as provided in subsection (a), for the three (3), five (5), seven (7) or nine (9) members of the board of education at large, and the three (3), five (5), seven (7) or nine (9) persons receiving the highest number of votes at the election shall be declared and certified by the election commission of the county to be the duly elected members of the board of education. (j) (1) At any time after the general election to be held in August next following the entry of a decree or judgment of any court, as provided in subsection (a), the county legislative bodies of the several counties within the purview of subsection (a) may, if they have not previously done so, in compliance with this section, as provided in subsection (d), cause a census or other determination of population of the several civil districts of the county to be taken, and, at any regular meeting of the county legislative body following the reporting of the census or other determination of population to it, shall have the power to adopt an appropriate resolution establishing three (3), five (5), seven (7) or nine (9) school zones or districts as provided in subsection (e); provided, that the resolution shall not impair or shorten the terms of office of any of the members of the board of education who are elected under the authority of this section, and shall provide that members of the board of education to be elected thereunder shall first be elected no sooner than the expiration of the terms of members previously elected under the authority of this section. (2) At any time that the county legislative body has established the school zones or districts as provided in this section, a certified copy of the resolution establishing the school zones or districts shall be officially filed with the election commission of the county, which shall thereafter hold and conduct elections for the newly created board of education of the county in accordance with this section and the school zones or districts as established by the county legislative body of the county. In any case where the county legislative body of any county, in accordance with the authority contained in this subsection (j), has not established the school zones or districts of a county not later than June 1 of any year in which a general election is required to be held for the election of some or all of the members of the then existing school commission, school board, board of education or other designated agency governing the school affairs of the county, the resolution establishing the school zones or districts shall not take effect until after the general election held during that year and the members of the then existing school commission, school board, board of education or other designated agency, including those who are elected at the general election to be held during the year, shall continue to hold their offices and govern the school affairs of the county until the next general election held thereafter, at which time elections shall be had for the three (3), five (5), seven (7) or nine (9) members of the board of education created by this section and from the three (3), five (5), seven (7) or nine (9) school zones or districts established by the county legislative body as provided in this section.

Legislative History

Acts 1967, ch. 252, §§ 1-10; 1970, ch. 509, §§ 1-4; 1972, ch. 697, §§ 3-6; 1973, ch. 170, §§ 2-4; T.C.A., §§ 49-239 -- 49-248.