County of San Bernardino Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Fixed a duplicated word typo in the legislative counsel's digest: 'This bill bill' changed to 'This bill'

Fixed a duplicated word typo in Section 21596.2(i)(2): 'gender gender' changed to 'gender' in the list of diversity considerations for appointing commissioners

Added enrolled bill formatting: Senate passage date (August 26, 2026), Assembly passage date (August 25, 2026), governor's receipt line, and approval signature block

New Section 21596.7 makes implementation of the entire chapter contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or other statute, meaning the commission will not be established unless the Legislature provides dedicated funding.

The diversity criteria for selecting the final six commissioners was expanded from 'racial, ethnic, geographic, and gender diversity' to 'racial, ethnic, geographic, gender, and occupational diversity,' adding occupational background as a factor commissioners must consider.

The family-member disqualification in Section 21596.2(e)(4) was broadened from 'an immediate a family member' (a typo that limited it to immediate family) to simply 'a family member,' expanding the scope of relatives whose prior political activity would disqualify an applicant.

In Section 21596.2(e)(4), the phrase 'immediate family member of the applicant' was changed to 'immediate a family member of the applicant.' This appears to be a drafting error. If intentional, it may have been meant to broaden the prohibition from covering only immediate family members to any family member, but as written it is ungrammatical and its legal effect is unclear.

Coauthor name corrected from 'Padilla Cervantes' to 'Cervantes,' removing what appears to be an erroneous first name or middle name attribution.

Page numbers changed from 96 to 95 throughout the bill, and line numbering was shifted due to reorganization of the bill summary section. These are formatting changes with no policy impact.

Added Senator Padilla Cervantes to the list of coauthors alongside Senators Padilla and Perez.

Removed a redundant provision stating 'A commissioner shall only be removed by a majority vote of the commission' from the removal section, along with an empty subsection (B) that indicated a drafting error. The general rule requiring nine or more affirmative votes for any official action already governs removal votes.

Fixed broken numbering in the commissioner removal section where two items were both labeled '(2)' and an empty '(B)' existed between them. The self-vote prohibition is now cleanly numbered as subsection (2).

Increased the minimum number of public hearings required after the commission draws a draft map from two to three, extending the public comment period before final adoption.

Changed the entity responsible for providing reasonable funding and staffing for the commission from 'the board' (Board of Supervisors) to 'the county' as a whole, broadening the fiscal obligation.

Restructured commissioner disqualification criteria: added a catch-all reference to Section 23003 prohibitions as the first item, removed the specific prohibition on serving as an officer, employee, or paid consultant of a political party or its central committee, and narrowed the consultant/employee ban to specifically target candidates rather than elected representatives generally.

Removed the definition of 'immediate family member' (spouse, child, in-law, parent, or sibling) from Section 21596, though the term continues to be used in the commissioner qualification criteria. The cross-reference to Section 23000 definitions was moved into the definitions section.

Replaced the word 'meeting' with 'hearing' throughout the bill (e.g., 'public meeting' became 'public hearing,' 'at a public meeting' became 'at a public hearing'), standardizing terminology to emphasize the public participation nature of commission proceedings.

Added a new provision stating that definitions in Section 23000 (the general redistricting commission statute) apply to this chapter unless otherwise provided, creating a shared definitional framework.

Added a new provision making the commission, its members, and applicants subject to Section 23003 (existing eligibility and prohibition rules for redistricting commissioners), except where this chapter imposes additional or more restrictive requirements.

Restructured the list of disqualifying activities for commissioner applicants. Added a new first item: meeting criteria for a prohibition in Section 23003. Simplified the office-holding prohibition to 'held or sought local, state, or federal office.' Added language that the employee/consultant prohibition applies 'to any extent not already prohibited by Section 23003.'

Increased the number of required public hearings after a draft map is drawn from at least two to at least three, and added timing language requiring them to occur 'before the hearing at which the new boundaries are adopted.'

Expanded the campaign activity restriction on commissioners to include 'volunteer for' in addition to the existing prohibitions on endorsing, working for, or making campaign contributions to candidates.

Changed the funding obligation for the commission from 'the board shall provide' to 'the county shall provide,' broadening which entity is responsible for reasonable funding and staffing.

Expanded the consultant retention restriction so that a person who would not be qualified as an applicant under either this chapter's disqualification criteria OR Section 23003 subdivisions (c) or (d) cannot be retained as a consultant.

Replaced multiple instances of 'meeting' with 'hearing' throughout the bill, including in the removal process provisions and bylaws requirements, to align terminology with public hearing procedures.