« Ind. Decisions - Court of Appeals issues 0 today (and 1 NFP) | Main | Courts - Is the collection of DNA samples from people arrested -- but not yet convicted of crimes -- constitutional? [Updated] »

Monday, July 25, 2011

Ind. Gov't. - So who are your current legislators?

Updating earlier ILB entries on the new legislative districts (see most recent ILB entry here), this story, posted at ValpoLife.com, caught my eye:

So who are your current legislators? The Indiana House and Congress are following the standard model. For example, even if your home has been drawn into a new legislative district your current representation in the Indiana House and Congress would remain the same prior to the redistricting until after the 2012 Election when you have had a chance to vote on your new representative.

The Indiana Senate is different. Here, your state senator might change based on the new Indiana Senate district map with the decision to go ahead and implement those changes prior to the next election. The reason for this is because only half of the Indiana Senate is elected at any given election. The Senate believes that enacting those changes now will avoid confusion later.

Got it? If not, use the new Indiana Senate district map and compare it to the list of Indiana senators here to see who’s representing you.

ILB: So what about the statutes -- is this written somewhere? The law establishing the current Senate districts, adopted in 2001, is found at IC 2-1-11, and is still in effect and remains so until Nov. 6, 2012 (election day), when it is repealed by HEA 1601 (PL 214-2011).

The new law establishing the new Senate district boundaries is codified at IC 2-1-13. It went into effect July 1, 2011. Confusing? Not insofar as the 25 seats up for election in 2012 are concerned.

But what about the other 25, not up for election until 2014?

As for the 25 "holdover" Senators, elected in 2010 and not up for reelection until 2014, new language (IC 2-1-9-9) added this year provides (emphasis added by ILB):

Sec. 9. (a) Indiana is divided into fifty (50) senate districts as described in IC 2-1-13. From each of these districts there shall be elected one (1) senator of the senate of the Indiana general assembly.

(b) Each senator elected in the general election in 2010 for a full four (4) year term shall continue to hold office until the term for which the senator was elected has expired by limitation, and the senator shall represent the district established under IC 2-1-13 in which the senator's legal residence is located.

As added by P.L.212-2001, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.37-2002, SEC.2; P.L.214-2011, SEC.7.

That last clause, " in which the senator's legal residence is located," may pose a problem in some cases. Of course, it is still hard to easily see where exactly the lines are and what addresses they include.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 25, 2011 12:33 PM
Posted to Indiana Government