(Cod. Conn. Const. Art. III., Sec. 6, as amended.)

(Reapportionment procedure. Reapportionment Committee. Reapportionment Commission.)
Sec. 6. a. The assembly and senatorial districts and congressional districts as now established by law shall continue until the regular session of the general assembly next after the completion of the taking of the next census of the United States. On or before the fifteenth day of February next following the year in which the decennial census of the United States is taken, the general assembly shall appoint a reapportionment committee consisting of four members of the senate, two who shall be designated by the president pro tempore of the senate and two who shall be designated by the minority leader of the senate, and four members of the house of representatives, two who shall be designated by the speaker of the house of representatives and two who shall be designated by the minority leader of the house of representatives, provided there are members of no more than two political parties in either the senate or the house of representatives. In the event that there are members of more than two political parties in a house of the general assembly, all members of that house belonging to the parties other than that of the president pro tempore of the senate or the speaker of the house of representatives, as the case may be, shall select one of their number, who shall designate two members of the committee in lieu of the designation by the minority leader of that house. Such committee shall advise the general assembly on matters of apportionment. Upon the filing of a report of such committee with the clerk of the house of representatives and the clerk of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives and the president pro tempore of the senate shall, if the general assembly is not in regular session, convene the general assembly in special session for the sole purpose of adopting a plan of districting. Upon the request of the speaker of the house of representatives and the president pro tempore of the senate, the secretary of the state shall give notice of such special session by mailing a true copy of the call of such special session, by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to each member of the house of representatives and of the senate at his or her address as it appears upon the records of said secretary not less than ten nor more than fifteen days prior to the date of convening of such special session or by causing a true copy of the call to be delivered to each member by a constable, state policeman or indifferent person at least twenty-four hours prior to the time of convening of such special session. Such general assembly shall, upon roll call, by a yea vote of at least two-thirds of the membership of each house, adopt such plan of districting as is necessary to preserve a proper apportionment of representation in accordance with the principles recited in this article. Thereafter the general assembly shall decennially at its next regular session or special session called for the purpose of adopting a plan of districting following the completion of the taking of the census of the United States, upon roll call, by a yea vote of at least two-thirds of the membership of each house, adopt such plan of districting as is necessary in accordance with the provisions of this article.

b. If the general assembly fails to adopt a plan of districting by the fifteenth day of the September next following the year in which the decennial census of the United States is taken, the governor shall forthwith appoint a commission designated by the president pro tempore of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the minority leader of the senate and the minority leader of the house of representatives, each of whom shall designate two members of the commission, provided that there are members of no more than two political parties in either the senate or the house of representatives. In the event that there are members of more than two political parties in a house of the general assembly, all members of that house belonging to the parties other than that of the president pro tempore of the senate or the speaker of the house of representatives, as the case may be, shall select one of their number, who shall designate two members of the commission in lieu of the designation by the minority leader of that house. The eight members of the commission so designated shall within thirty days select an elector of the state as a ninth member.

c. The commission shall proceed to consider the alteration of districts in accordance with the principles recited in this article and it shall submit a plan of districting to the secretary of the state by the thirtieth day of the November next succeeding the appointment of its members. No plan shall be submitted to the secretary unless it is certified by at least five members of the commission. Upon receiving such plan the secretary shall publish the same forthwith, and, upon publication, such plan of districting shall have the full force of law. If the commission shall fail to submit such a plan by the thirtieth day of November, the secretary of the state shall forthwith so notify the chief justice of the supreme court.

d. Original jurisdiction is vested in the supreme court to be exercised on the petition of any registered voter whereby said court may compel the commission, by mandamus or otherwise, to perform its duty or to correct any error made in its plan of districting, or said court may take such other action to effectuate the purposes of this article, including the establishing of a plan of districting if the commission fails to file its plan of districting by the thirtieth day of November as said court may deem appropriate. Any such petition shall be filed within thirty days of the date specified for any duty or within thirty days after the filing of a plan of districting. The supreme court shall render its decision not later than forty-five days following the filing of such petition or shall file its plan with the secretary of the state not later than the fifteenth day of February next following the time for submission of a plan of districting by the commission. Upon receiving such plan the secretary shall publish the same forthwith, and, upon publication, such plan of districting shall have the full force of law.


Historical Note: This section, as printed here, incorporates Article XII., of the Amendments to the Constitution of the State of Connecticut, and Article XVI., Sec. 2, Article XXVI., and Article XXX., Sec. 2, of said Amendments. Said Article XII., was adopted on November 24, 1976, and added provisions in subsection a. requiring the appointment of a reapportionment committee and set forth the procedures governing the designation of its members, changed the deadline for enactment of a redistricting plan in subsection b. from the April first next following the completion of a census to the May fifteenth next following completion and added a ninth commission member, to be selected by the eight appointees of the speaker, president pro tem and minority leaders, in subsection c., changed the deadline for the submission of the plan to the secretary of the state from the July first next succeeding the appointment of commission members to the September first next succeeding their appointment, required certification by five commission members rather than six and added new provision requiring secretary of the state to notify the chief justice in the event that the commission fails to submit a plan, and entirely replaced former subsections d. and e. which had authorized empaneling a three-member board to consist of superior court judges charged with altering districts as need be with a new subsection d. vesting original jurisdiction in the supreme court to compel the commission to perform its duties or to correct errors in the plan or to establish a plan itself. Said Article XVI., Sec. 2, was adopted on November 26, 1980, and replaced references to the "completion" of a census with references to the "taking" of a census throughout this section, amended subsection a. to include congressional districts and to add provisions governing the calling of a special session to adopt a redistricting plan, amended subsection b. to change the deadline for adoption of a plan from May fifteenth to August first in the year next following the census, amended subsection c. to change the deadline from the September first next succeeding the appointment of members to the October thirtieth next succeeding their appointment, and amended subsection d. to change the deadline for filing a petition from "within forty-five days of the date specified for any duty or within forty-five days after the filing of a plan of districting" to "within thirty days" of such date for any duty or filing, to reduce the time allotted for supreme court action on a petition from sixty to forty-five days and to change court's deadline for filing its own plan from the December fifteenth following a census to the January fifteenth next following the commission's deadline for submission of a plan. Said Article XXVI., was adopted on November 28, 1990, and amended subsection b. to change the deadline for adoption of a plan from the August first next following the year a census is taken to the fifteenth of September next following such year, amended subsection c. to change the deadline from the October thirtieth next succeeding the appointment of members to the November thirtieth next succeeding their appointment and amended subsection d. to change court's deadline for filing its own plan from the January fifteenth next following the commission's deadline for submission of a plan to the February fifteenth following the commission's deadline. Said Article XXX., Sec. 2, was adopted on November 29, 2000, and amended subsection a. by deleting reference to sheriff and deputy sheriff.

See Article III., Sec. 5, of this Codified Constitution of the State of Connecticut re requirement that congressional districts and general assembly districts shall be consistent with federal constitutional standards.

See notes to Secs. 9-9 and 9-10a re congressional, senatorial and assembly districts established in 1991.