To enact sections 3521.11 and 3521.12 of the Revised Code to specify that plans of apportionment for members of the General Assembly must include or be accompanied by a district map and corresponding list of census blocks, to specify a time by which plans of apportionment must be ready, to specify that the plans of apportionment must receive a public hearing at four locations throughout the state, and to declare an emergency.

Section 1. That sections 3521.11 and 3521.12 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 3521.11.  (A) The persons responsible for the apportionment of the state for members of the general assembly under Ohio Constitution, Article XI, Section 1, shall neither prepare nor accept from another a plan of apportionment that does not include or that is not accompanied by a map of Ohio outlining the general assembly districts and the corresponding list of census block assignments as they would be apportioned by the plan.

(B) A plan of apportionment and map shall be prepared by the persons responsible for the apportionment not later than three weeks before the date by which the plan of apportionment is required to be established. Plans submitted by members of the public also shall be submitted three weeks prior to the deadline for the adoption of an apportionment plan.

The persons responsible for apportionment shall make public all plans produced and submitted three weeks before the deadline for plan adoption. In making the plans public, the persons responsible for apportionment shall display images or interactive versions of the maps in a physical location and online through the internet and shall make the data and electronic files that describe each plan available to the public electronically in a format that allows for meaningful analysis with computerized systems.

Sec. 3521.12.  The persons responsible for the apportionment of the state for members of the general assembly under Ohio Constitution, Article XI, Section 1 shall conduct four public hearings, at four different locations in the state, on the proposed plan or plans of apportionment that the persons responsible for the apportionment have under consideration. The public hearings shall commence not later than two weeks before the date by which the plan of apportionment is required to be established. The persons responsible for the apportionment shall select locations for the public hearings so that one is conducted centrally in Columbus, one is conducted in the southwestern quadrant of the state, one is conducted in the northwestern quadrant of the state, and one is conducted in the eastern half of the state. The persons responsible for the apportionment shall select sites for the public hearings that are most convenient to the largest number of residents in the region in which a public hearing is to be conducted.

At a public hearing, any person may appear before the persons responsible for the apportionment and comment orally, in writing, or orally and in writing on the plan or plans of apportionment the persons responsible for the apportionment have under consideration. The persons responsible for the apportionment shall receive all relevant comments. A person who desires to offer only written comment is not required actually to appear before the persons responsible for the apportionment, but may do so by transmitting the written comment to the persons responsible for the apportionment so that the written comment is received before the public hearings conclude.

The persons responsible for the apportionment shall give notice of the public hearings in such a manner that the notice will be reasonably likely to inform all persons residing in the state in a timely fashion of their right to appear and comment on the plan of apportionment at one of the public hearings. The site and the date and time of each public hearing shall be stated in the notice. Instructions for transmitting written comments to the persons responsible for the apportionment shall be included in the notice.

The persons responsible for the apportionment shall publish the plan or plans of apportionment that are under consideration in the register of Ohio. When a map accompanies a plan of apportionment, the map shall be appended to the plan as published in the register of Ohio. Instructions for accessing the plan or plans of apportionment through the register of Ohio shall be included in the notice.

Section 2.  This act is an emergency measure that is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety. Because this act requires the plan or plans of apportionment for the General Assembly that are under consideration to be given public hearings at four different locations throughout the state, and because a plan of apportionment must be established by October 1, 2011, it is necessary that this act go into effect as soon as possible if the persons responsible for the apportionment are to have the benefit of the public hearings before publishing the plan of apportionment. Therefore this act goes into immediate effect.