Florida Senate - 2026 SJR 728
By Senator Jones
34-01042-26 2026728__
1 Senate Joint Resolution
2 A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section
3 16 of Article III of the State Constitution to revise
4 reapportionment methods and revise upward the number
5 of Senate and House of Representatives districts.
6
7 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
8
9 That the following amendment to Section 16 of Article III
10 of the State Constitution is agreed to and shall be submitted to
11 the electors of this state for approval or rejection at the next
12 general election or at an earlier special election specifically
13 authorized by law for that purpose:
14 ARTICLE III
15 LEGISLATURE
16 SECTION 16. Legislative apportionment.—
17 (a) INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSIONS. The state shall
18 be apportioned by three independent redistricting commissions,
19 one each for the senatorial, representative, and congressional
20 reapportionment processes.
21 (1)a. Each redistricting commission will establish a
22 screening panel composed of thirty-seven members. The president
23 of the senate, speaker of the house of representatives, minority
24 leader of the senate, and minority leader of the house of
25 representatives shall each appoint nine members. The chief
26 justice of the supreme court shall appoint one member.
27 b. To apply for the commissioner position, each applicant
28 must have voted in two out of the last three presidential
29 elections and two out of the last three gubernatorial elections.
30 The following persons may not apply for a commissioner position
31 or serve as commissioner:
32 1. Someone currently serving, or who has served, in an
33 office or a position that is filled by vote of the electors.
34 2. Someone who, within the past fourteen years, has been a
35 party officer, a registered lobbyist, paid while working as part
36 of a campaign staff, or has worked for the executive office of
37 the governor.
38 3. Someone who, within the past eighteen years, has worked
39 for the legislature.
40 4. Any parent, spouse, child, sibling, parent-in-law,
41 child-in-law, or sibling-in-law of, or a cohabitating member of
42 a household with, those mentioned in sub-subparagraphs 1.
43 through 3.
44 c. After review, the screening panel will select for
45 further consideration fifteen applicants from each of the
46 following categories:
47 1. Applicants who are registered members of the political
48 party that received the most votes in the last statewide
49 election.
50 2. Applicants who are registered members of the political
51 party that received the second-most votes in the last statewide
52 election.
53 3. Applicants who are registered as independent or minor
54 party affiliates.
55
56 The screening panel shall ensure the selected applicants are, as
57 a whole, representative of the racial, ethnic, geographic, and
58 gender diversity of the state.
59 (2)a. The president of the senate, the speaker of the house
60 of representatives, the minority leader of the senate, and the
61 minority leader of the house of representatives may each strike
62 two applicants from each of the categories described in sub
63 subparagraphs (1)b.1. through 3.
64 b. The screening panel shall then randomly draw five
65 applicants from each of the categories described in sub
66 subparagraphs (1)b.1. through 3. to create each final
67 independent redistricting commission.
68 (3) The initial group of commissioners shall begin their
69 terms in 2027. Each commissioner shall serve a ten-year term and
70 may not serve consecutive terms. A person who has served on a
71 commission may not run for an office for which the commission
72 established the districts during his or her term as a
73 commissioner or within ten years after the adoption of those
74 districts.
75 (4) A member of the commission shall receive compensation
76 fixed at the legislative per diem rate during commission travel
77 and meetings and shall be allowed all reasonable and necessary
78 expenses incurred in the performance of his or her duties.
79 (5)a. All meetings must take place in person and be
80 streamed on the Florida Channel.
81 b. All records and documents of the commission, including
82 any individual or group performing delegated functions of the
83 commission or advising the commission, related to the
84 commission’s work shall be considered public records. This
85 includes internal communications of the commission and
86 communications made to the commission.
87 c. Commissioners, staff of the commission, and any other
88 advisor or consultant to the commission may communicate with any
89 person outside the commission about matters related to
90 reapportionment only in a public meeting or hearing. This does
91 not apply to written public comments submitted to the
92 commission, staff of the commission, or any other advisor or
93 consultant to the commission.
94 (6) If the commission hires legal counsel, the commission
95 as an entity shall be considered the client.
96 (7) The commission shall establish and maintain a public
97 website or other equivalent electronic platform to share
98 information about the commission’s activities. Before voting on
99 any proposed plan, the commission shall publish the proposed
100 plan on the website. The website must:
101 a. Be capable of receiving comments and proposals by
102 citizens of this state.
103 b. Include a public submission portal for map drawing,
104 which must open on the website on the first day of January of a
105 year ending in one.
106 c. Include all data used by the commission in the drawing
107 of districts. Such data, including census data, precinct maps,
108 election results, and shapefiles, must be posted on the website
109 within three days after receipt by the commission.
110 (b) DISTRICT MAPS.
111 (1) Each commission shall reapportion the state by creating
112 three district maps. Each map must be drawn according to Article
113 III, Sections 20 and 21.
114 (2) The commission shall adopt three final district maps.
115 The maps must be approved by at least two-thirds of the
116 commissioners, including at least two commissioners registered
117 as independent or minor party affiliates.
118 (3) Before adopting a final map, the commission shall hold
119 at least two public hearings in each state appellate district
120 and at least two public hearings in each county with a
121 population of one million or more to seek public input. All
122 meetings and hearings held by the commission must be adequately
123 advertised and planned to ensure the public is able to attend
124 and participate fully. Meetings and hearings must have
125 advertisements in, at minimum, the following languages: English,
126 Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Portuguese.
127 (c)(a) SENATORIAL AND REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICTS. The
128 legislature at its regular session in the second year following
129 each decennial census, by joint resolution approved by a
130 majority vote of each chamber, shall adopt one of the maps
131 created by the commission to apportion the state in accordance
132 with the constitution of the state and of the United States into
133 not less than thirty nor more than sixty forty consecutively
134 numbered senatorial districts of either contiguous, overlapping
135 or identical territory, and into not less than eighty nor more
136 than one hundred eighty twenty consecutively numbered
137 representative districts of either contiguous, overlapping or
138 identical territory. A map from the commission may be amended by
139 the legislature, but only if the amendment is approved by a
140 three-fourths vote of each chamber. The legislature shall adopt
141 a final map by the earlier of the first day of July of a year
142 ending in one or sixty days after receipt of census data. The
143 legislature shall be barred from all other involvement. The
144 legislature may authorize an extension until the fifteenth day
145 of December in the event of an extraordinary circumstance. As
146 used in this subsection, an “extraordinary circumstance” means
147 an invasion of the state by a hostile foreign power and
148 recognized as such by an act of the United States Congress, a
149 pandemic declared as such by the President of the United States,
150 or a natural disaster declared as such by the President of the
151 United States Should that session adjourn without adopting such
152 joint resolution, the governor by proclamation shall reconvene
153 the legislature within thirty days in special apportionment
154 session which shall not exceed thirty consecutive days, during
155 which no other business shall be transacted, and it shall be the
156 mandatory duty of the legislature to adopt a joint resolution of
157 apportionment.
158 (d)(b) FAILURE OF LEGISLATURE TO APPORTION; JUDICIAL MAP
159 SELECTION REAPPORTIONMENT. In the event a special apportionment
160 session of the legislature fails to adopt finally adjourns
161 without adopting a joint resolution of apportionment, the
162 supreme court shall select the most compact map out of the three
163 submitted, without amendment. The supreme court may hire up to
164 two special masters for assistance the attorney general shall,
165 within five days, petition the supreme court of the state to
166 make such apportionment. No later than the sixtieth day after
167 the filing of such petition, the supreme court shall file with
168 the custodian of state records an order making such
169 apportionment.
170 (e)(c) LEGAL CHALLENGES TO JUDICIAL REVIEW OF
171 APPORTIONMENT. Within fifteen days after the passage of the
172 joint resolution of apportionment, the attorney general shall
173 petition The supreme court of the state shall have original and
174 exclusive jurisdiction over any case for a declaratory judgment
175 determining the validity of the apportionment. The supreme
176 court, in accordance with its rules, shall permit adversary
177 interests to present their views and, within thirty days after
178 from the filing of the petition, shall enter its judgment. A
179 justice who has a close relationship with a member of the United
180 States Congress or of the legislature has a conflict of interest
181 in the case and may not participate in any hearing or decision
182 related to a case brought under this subsection. As used in this
183 subsection, “close relationship” means a parent, spouse, child,
184 sibling, parent-in-law, child-in-law, or sibling-in-law of, or a
185 cohabitating member of a household with, a member of the United
186 States Congress or of the legislature.
187 (f)(d) EFFECT OF JUDGMENT IN APPORTIONMENT; EXTRAORDINARY
188 APPORTIONMENT SESSION. A judgment of the supreme court of the
189 state determining the apportionment to be valid shall be binding
190 upon all the citizens of the state. Should the supreme court
191 determine that the apportionment made by the legislature is
192 invalid, the governor by proclamation shall reconvene the
193 independent redistricting commissions to determine and propose a
194 reapportionment plan to remedy the unlawful or unconstitutional
195 district in a manner that minimally interferes with other
196 districts legislature within five days thereafter in
197 extraordinary apportionment session which shall not exceed
198 fifteen days, during which the legislature shall adopt a joint
199 resolution of apportionment conforming to the judgment of the
200 supreme court.
201 (e) EXTRAORDINARY APPORTIONMENT SESSION; REVIEW OF
202 APPORTIONMENT. Within fifteen days after the adjournment of an
203 extraordinary apportionment session, the attorney general shall
204 file a petition in the supreme court of the state setting forth
205 the apportionment resolution adopted by the legislature, or if
206 none has been adopted reporting that fact to the court.
207 Consideration of the validity of a joint resolution of
208 apportionment shall be had as provided for in cases of such
209 joint resolution adopted at a regular or special apportionment
210 session.
211 (f) JUDICIAL REAPPORTIONMENT. Should an extraordinary
212 apportionment session fail to adopt a resolution of
213 apportionment or should the supreme court determine that the
214 apportionment made is invalid, the court shall, not later than
215 sixty days after receiving the petition of the attorney general,
216 file with the custodian of state records an order making such
217 apportionment.
218 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be
219 placed on the ballot:
220 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
221 ARTICLE III, SECTION 16
222 STATE REAPPORTIONMENT.—Proposing an amendment to the State
223 Constitution to revise reapportionment methods by creating three
224 independent redistricting commissions, for the Senate, House of
225 Representatives, and congressional reapportionment processes,
226 respectively, require the Legislature to approve a map created
227 by such commission, revise upward the number of Senate
228 districts, from 40 to 60, and House districts, from 120 to 180,
229 and establish procedures for when the Legislature fails to
230 select a district map.
231 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be
232 placed on the ballot if a court declares the preceding statement
233 defective and the decision of the court is not reversed:
234 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
235 ARTICLE III, SECTION 16
236 STATE REAPPORTIONMENT.—Proposing an amendment to the State
237 Constitution to revise the reapportionment process by creating
238 three independent redistricting commissions: one for the Senate,
239 one for the House of Representatives, and one for congressional
240 districts; establishing a screening panel and procedure to
241 review commission applicants; providing that commissioners will
242 be compensated at the legislative per diem rate; providing
243 commission meeting requirements and responsibilities; providing
244 that if a commission hires an attorney, the commission shall be
245 considered the client; requiring at least 15 public hearings be
246 held across the state; requiring each commission to draw
247 district maps based solely on constitutional provisions;
248 requiring that three final maps be approved by at least a two
249 thirds supermajority, including votes from at least two
250 independent or minor party affiliates; requiring the Legislature
251 to select one map from the three submitted, by a majority vote,
252 not subject to a gubernatorial veto; providing that the Supreme
253 Court shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over any
254 litigation related to a district map; increasing the number of
255 Senate districts from 40 to 60 and House of Representatives
256 districts from 120 to 180; providing requirements for the
257 adoption of the final maps; providing that if the Legislature
258 fails to adopt a joint resolution, the Supreme Court shall
259 select the most compact map from the three submitted, but may
260 not amend any map; and providing that if the Supreme Court finds
261 the Legislature’s adopted map invalid, the Governor shall
262 reconvene the commissions to create a lawful replacement.