On or before July 1 of each year following the taking of a decennial census under the authority of Congress, the Board shall prepare a proposal for reapportionment of the Senate, apportioning the 30 senatorial seats among the counties or combinations of counties, in such manner as to achieve substantial equality in the choice of members as guaranteed by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Chair of the Board shall transmit such proposal to the Secretary of the Senate and it shall be referred to the appropriate committee. The General Assembly shall then accept the proposal and enact it into law or substitute another plan for reapportionment of the Senate. (Added 1965, No. 97, § 7; amended 1989, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 6e; 1991, No. 217 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 22, 1992; 1999, No. 68 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2001, No. 36, § 3.)

(a)(1) On or before July 1 of each year following the taking of a decennial census under the authority of Congress, the Board shall prepare a proposal for reapportionment of the Senate, apportioning the 30 senatorial seats among the counties or combinations of counties with a maximum of three members in each proposed district, and in such manner as to achieve substantial equality in the choice of members as guaranteed by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

(b) The General Assembly shall then accept the proposal and enact it into law or enact into law a substitute plan for reapportionment of the Senate that limits each senatorial district to a maximum of three members. (Added 1965, No. 97, § 7; amended 1989, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 6e; 1991, No. 217 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 22, 1992; 1999, No. 68 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2001, No. 36, § 3; 2019, No. 2, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2021.)