title
PROPOSED ORDINANCE
COOK COUNTY REDISTRICTING ORDINANCE OF 2021
WHEREAS, on November 6, 1990, the voters of Cook County approved the creation of 17 separate single-member districts for the election of members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 93-O-34 (the “Cook County Districting Ordinance”), adopted September 21, 1993, provides [in Section 1] that the members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners shall be elected from 17 single-member districts; and
WHEREAS, the County Board is required by law to redistrict after each decennial census to insure that the 17 County Commissioner Districts are of substantially equal population according to census data from the United States Census Bureau; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with that requirement, Ordinance No. 93-O-34 was previously amended by Ordinance No. 01-O-23, adopted September 6, 2001, and by Ordinance 12-O-29, adopted June 15, 2012;
WHEREAS, in enacting the redistricting plan set forth in Section 3 and Appendix 1 hereof, the following redistricting principles have been taken into account:
(1) each of the districts has been drawn to be substantially equal in population;
(2) each of the districts has been drawn to be consistent with the United States Constitution;
(3) each of the districts has been drawn to be consistent with the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42 U.S.C. §1973, et seq., as amended; and
(4) each of the districts has been drawn to reflect a balance of the following redistricting principles: the preservation of the core or boundaries of the existing districts; the preservation of communities of interest; respect for township, municipal, ward, and other political subdivision boundaries; the maintenance of incumbent-constituent relationships and tracking of population migration; proposals or other input submitted by members of the public and stakeholder groups; public hearing testimony; respect for geographic features and natural or logistical boundaries; and other redistricting principles recognized by state and federal court decisions.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Cook County Board of Commissioners that the Cook County Redistricting Ordinance of 2021 is hereby enacted as follows:
Section 1. This Ordinance shall be known as and may be cited as the Cook County Redistricting Ordinance of 2021.
Section 2. The Board of Commissioners of the County of Cook find that all of the recitals contained in the preambles to this Ordinance are full, true and correct and do incorporate them into this Ordinance by this reference.
Section 3. Sections 3-1 through 3-17, inclusive, of Ordinance No. 93-O-34, as previously amended by Ordinance No. 01-O-23, and by Ordinance No. 12-O-29, are hereby amended, and, as amended, shall read and provide as follows in the attached Appendix 1. Cook County Board Districts 1 through 17 shall be comprised as noted in Appendix 1 of this Ordinance.
Section 4.
(a) For purposes of this Ordinance, the districts described in Section 3, Appendix 1 shall be composed of the United States census geography (tracts and blocks), as defined by the GeoID contained within the 2020 version of the “TIGER” files from the United States Census Bureau. References to “tract” or “CT” shall mean “census tract,” as that demographic unit is established by the United States Census Bureau for the 2020 census as described by maps and publications of the Bureau. References to “block,” “blocks,” or “block groups” refer to those demographic units as established by the United States Census Bureau for the 2020 census as described by maps and publications of the Bureau.
(b) In the census tract and block listing noted in Field 1 of Appendix 1, the first two digits of a census description shall refer to the State of Illinois (17). The next three digits of a census description shall refer to Cook County, which carries a code 031. The next six digits refer to the census tract within Cook County. The last four digits refer to the census block within the census tract. Field 2 of Appendix 1 references the corresponding Cook County Board District.
(c) Any reference to a “city” or “town,” “city or town boundaries,” or “city or town limits” shall refer to the boundaries or limits of a particular city or town as defined by the 2020 version of the “TIGER” files from the United States Census Bureau. “TIGER” is an acronym for the computer readable geographic data base that automates the mapping and related geographic activities required to support the United States’ Census Bureau’s census and survey programs and stands for “Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing.”
(d) In the event of a discrepancy between the listing of tracts and blocks set forth above and any other boundary description or map, the listing of census tracts and blocks set forth in Section 3, Appendix 1 shall take precedence and be controlling.
Section 5.
(a) The Cook County Board Districts specified in Section 3, Appendix 1 of this Cook County Redistricting Ordinance of 2021 shall become effective upon approval and adoption of this Ordinance and County Commissioners shall be nominated and elected in 2022 by the legal voters of each County Board District as set forth and specified in this Ordinance, subject to the following limitations:
(1) Any County Commissioner elected in 2018 or appointed to fill a vacancy in office occurring subsequent to the 2018 general election but prior to the November 2022 general election shall, until his or her term is completed and his or her successor is elected and qualified in 2022, continue to represent and serve the residents and legal voters of the District from which he or she was elected or appointed as such District existed as of the 2018 general election; and
(2) Any vacancy in the office of County Commissioner occurring on or after the approval and adoption of this Ordinance and prior to the November 2022 general election shall be filled as provided in Section 22-32 2-74 of the Cook County Code by the appropriate district committee consisting of the committeeperson of each ward or township contained in whole or in part within the County Board District in which the vacancy has occurred as such District existed as of the 2018 general election.
(b) Any vacancy in nomination for the office of Cook County Commissioner occurring on or after the general primary election in 2022 shall be filled as provided in Section 22-32 of the Cook County Code of Ordinances by the appropriate district committee consisting of the committeeperson of each ward or township contained in whole or in part within the County Board District in which the vacancy occurs as set forth and specified in Section 3, Appendix 1 of this Ordinance.
Link to Appendix: <http://tiny.cc/dz7juz>
Effective date: This ordinance shall be in effect immediately upon adoption.
end