ARTICLE 1. Formation [1170. - 1185.]

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC 1.

in effect

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1170. Section 1170.

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates: (a) “District” means a memorial district organized under the provisions of this chapter. (b) “Board” means the board of directors of a memorial district.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1171. Section 1171.

A memorial district may be established, maintained, governed, supported, and operated in the manner and for the purposes herein provided, and may exercise the powers and jurisdiction herein expressly granted or necessarily implied.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1172. Section 1172.

No district shall include territory not wholly in the same county. A district may include any incorporated territory of the county together with any contiguous unincorporated territory thereof, or may be formed entirely of contiguous incorporated territory or entirely of contiguous unincorporated territory.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1173. Section 1173.

By petition filed with the county clerk, registered electors residing within the boundaries of a proposed district, equal in number to at least eight per cent of the number of votes cast in the proposed district for the office of Governor at the last general election at which a Governor was elected, may propose the formation of a district. If both incorporated and unincorporated territory are included within the proposed district, the petition shall be signed by registered electors equal in number in each territory to at least eight per cent of the votes so cast therein for Governor.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1174. Section 1174.

The petition shall be addressed to the board of supervisors of the county within which the proposed district is situated, shall be signed by the number of qualified registered voters specified in section 1173, and shall propose and set forth: (a) The formation of a district under this chapter. (b) The calling by the board of supervisors of a special election to vote upon the question whether the proposed district shall be formed and to elect the first board of directors of the district. (c) The name of the proposed district, as “____ memorial district.” (d) An accurate description of the boundaries of the proposed district specifying what portion of the territory is incorporated territory and what portion unincorporated territory.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1175. Section 1175.

The petition may be filed in sections, each of which shall fully comply with all of the requirements for a petition, except that each section need not contain the total number of signatures required for a petition.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1176. Section 1176.

Within 30 days after the filing of the petition the county elections official shall find and certify whether the petition is signed by the requisite number of qualified registered voters of the proposed district and of the incorporated and unincorporated portions thereof and shall present the petition with the certificate of their findings attached thereto to the board of supervisors at its first regular meeting held 10 days from the date of certification of the petition. The board shall fix a time and place for the hearing of the petition not less than 20 days nor more than 40 days after the date of the meeting, and shall direct the clerk of the board to publish a notice once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper circulated in the territory that it is proposed to organize into a district, and that the board deems most likely to give notice to the inhabitants of the territory.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1177. Section 1177.

If the petition and certificate is presented to the board of supervisors at a regular meeting the board at that meeting shall ascertain whether the petition in all respects complies with the requirements therefor, except that the certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the sufficiency of the signatures to the petition.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1177.5. Section 1177.5.

The notice required in Section 1176 shall state the fact that the board has fixed the time and place, which shall be stated in the notice, for a hearing on the matter of the formation of a memorial district. The notice shall describe the territory or shall specify the exterior boundaries of the territory proposed to be organized into a district.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1177.6. Section 1177.6.

At any time prior to the time fixed for a hearing of the matter, any person interested may file with the clerk of the board written objections to the formation of the district. At the time and place fixed for the hearing or at any time to which the hearing may be continued, the board of supervisors shall consider and pass on all objections to the creation of a district, or to the inclusion of any territory in the district. At the hearing, the board of supervisors may exclude any territory that in the opinion of the board would not be benefited by inclusion in the district.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1178. Section 1178.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the board of supervisors shall either adopt an order abandoning the creation of the proposed district or shall by resolution call a special election to vote upon the question of formation of the proposed district and to elect the members of the first board of directors thereof.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1178.5. Section 1178.5.

Sample ballots shall be printed and mailed, together with a synopsis of the provisions of Chapter 1 (commencing at Section 1170) of Division 6, to each registered voter in the proposed district.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1179. Section 1179.

The special election shall be held upon a date not later than the 130th day after the meeting of the board at which the petition was presented. At the special election, the proposition submitted shall be “Shall the proposed ____ memorial district be formed?” There shall be elected at the same election a board of directors consisting of five members.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1180. Section 1180.

The special election shall be called, noticed, held, and conducted, election officers appointed, voting precincts designated, candidates nominated, ballots printed, polls opened and closed, ballots counted and returned, returns canvassed, results declared, certificates of election issued, oaths of office administered, and all other proceedings incidental to and connected with the election shall be regulated and done, in accordance with the provisions of law regulating elections conducted pursuant to the Uniform District Election Law (Part 4 (commencing with Section 10500) of Division 10 of the Elections Code).

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1180.1. Section 1180.1.

Within five days after the district formation election has been called, the legislative body which has called the election shall transmit, by registered mail, a written notification of the election call to the executive officer of the local agency formation commission of the county or principal county in which the territory or major portion of the territory of the proposed district is located. Such written notice shall include the name and a description of the proposed district, and may be in the form of a certified copy of the resolution adopted by the legislative body calling the district formation election. The executive officer, within five days after being notified that a district formation election has been called, shall submit to the commission, for its approval or modification, an impartial analysis of the proposed district formation. The impartial analysis shall not exceed 500 words in length and shall include a specific description of the boundaries of the district proposed to be formed. The local agency formation commission, within five days after the receipt of the executive officer’s analysis, shall approve or modify the analysis and submit it to the officials in charge of conducting the district formation election.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1180.2. Section 1180.2.

The board of supervisors or any member or members of the board authorized by the board, or any individual voter or bona fide association of citizens entitled to vote on the district formation proposition, or any combination of such voters and associations of citizens, may file a written argument for or a written argument against the proposed district formation. Arguments shall not exceed 300 words in length and shall be filed with the officials in charge of conducting the election not less than 54 days prior to the date of the district formation election.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1180.3. Section 1180.3.

If more than one argument for or more than one argument against the proposed district formation is filed with the election officials within the time prescribed, such election officials shall select one of the arguments for printing and distribution to the voters. In selecting the arguments, the election officials shall give preference and priority in the order named to the arguments of the following: (a) The board of supervisors or any member or members of the board authorized by the board. (b) Individual voters or bona fide associations of citizens or a combination of such voters and associations.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1180.4. Section 1180.4.

The elections officials in charge of conducting the election shall cause a ballot pamphlet concerning the district formation proposition to be voted on to be printed and mailed to each voter entitled to vote on the district formation question. The ballot pamphlet shall contain the following, in the order prescribed: (a) The complete text of the proposition. (b) The impartial analysis of the proposition, prepared by the local agency formation commission. (c) The argument for the proposed district formation. (d) The argument against the proposed district formation. The elections officials shall mail a ballot pamphlet to each voter entitled to vote in the district formation election at least 10 days prior to the date of the election. The ballot pamphlet is “official matter” within the meaning of Section 13303 of the Elections Code.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1181. Section 1181.

For the purposes of this chapter the board of supervisors and the county elections official, respectively, shall have all the powers and duties that boards of trustees and city clerks have under Section 1180 and the terms “city,” “municipal election,” “board of trustees,” and “city clerk,” shall mean “proposed memorial district,” “proposed memorial district election,” “board of supervisors,” and “county clerk.”

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1182. Section 1182.

If a majority of the votes cast at the special election are in favor of formation of the district, the county elections official shall, within ten days after the board of supervisors has declared the result thereof, record in the office of the county recorder a complete certified copy of the statement of results entered on the minutes of the board of supervisors in accordance with Section 1180, together with a complete certified copy of the petition for formation of the district, except that the signatures on the petition need not be certified and recorded.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1183. Section 1183.

Such certified copies when recorded shall, after sixty days from the date of the special election, be conclusive evidence against all persons, firms, associations and corporations, except the State, of the regular and sufficient formation of the district and establishment of the boundaries thereof as set forth in the petition and of the validity of all proceedings preliminary to the formation and establishment of the district.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code - MVC § 1185. Section 1185.

A district may be formed in the manner prescribed by this article that is within an existing memorial district, if, in addition to the petition required by Section 1173, there is filed with the county elections official a verified copy of a resolution by the board of the existing district consenting to the formation of the new district.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026