The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-05-08
MUST REDISTRICY
THE CITY ON MAY %
Attorney General Tells Alder.
men How to Lay Ont A.
sembly Districts.
CONFUSION OVER WORE

ALBANY, May THE New Yort ~,
Board Of Aldermen. upon wh,cA A.
wolves the duty Of designating tho A..
seanbiy districts in New York city. rn,.,
meet on May 70 to perform this wor,
under the provisions Of the appr-,o,.
ment act recently signed by Gov. WIFI.
man. In the upstate counties above,
more than one Assemblyman this du.,
10 imposed upon the Boards Of sur.,.
visors.
Requests for Information a. 10 a.
time and manner Of establishing the A..
sembly districts in counties a',o,,.s
more than one member OF Assent.
made to Acknowledgement woodbury
during the past week indicate tina, me
various boards md the work somewhs.
difficult and confusing.
The apportionment of tho Senate Al.
tricts present no difficulties In view 0,
the context OF the apportionnen, a.
which actually describes these district.
The same is true with counties allo,,e.
one member Of the Assembly.
To clarity the situation tho Attornsy.
General issued tonight an informal
statement. explaining the constitution,
and statutory rules governing the Al.
vision OF the counties that are above.
more than one A~ssemblylnan into As.
sembly districts. No requests have beer
made as yet for formal opinions.
viii Give Legal Advice.
Attorney-General Woodbury. will. how.
ever. rende any legal advice the var.
GUS boards OF supervisors or the New
York city Board OF Aldermen desire io-
the purpose OF simplifying their sppor.
tionment duties.
The Attorney-Generars statement. .oi.
lows in part:
The Constitution. Article III, Be-.
ton 8. prescribes certain rules white.
n board of supervisors must follow n
dividing the county into sich dlStgic's
The districts within the county must b.
as nearly equal in the number o. i-hab..
tants as may be. The number OF iuhah.
tants Ia determined without reference 10
the lumber OF alIen Inhabitants In he
district.
ut Is further required tina the ds.
tricts shall be OF convenient and COY.
t!gnous territory In as compact form a.
practicable.
Another rule which must he ne, 4.
that each district shall he wholly wI;a!a
one Of the new senate districts.
Where a county contains more ina
one Senate district. the same number n.
Assembly districts must bc put N en-,
Senate district, unless the Assembly dis.
tricts cannot he evenly divided. IN ne
latter case II is permissible % ~. o..
Assembly district I'm the Sar,'a
district having the largest number - p.
habitants or less Assembly di,'-s'
In the Senate district having the sn,.,ts'
number OF Inhabitants.
No Block Can Re Divided,
THE Constitution also requires Va.
no town and no block in a city sh p g
divided in the formation OF an A,,c-.
bly, district, nor shall such u d..,rn
contain a greater excess In populate.
over an adjoining district than the ,o- q.
lation OF a town or block In such aIlo..
Ing district. The requirement j. fla:
owns or blocks which from their i.
ton may be included In either %, 80.
districts shall be placed SO as - ,niH.
those districts most nearly equal E. n.
number OF inhabitants.
Having divided the county into Az.
eembly districts in accordance with sios
rules the board Is required to make a
certificate describing each Assembly Is
trict. specifying It's number and s:a. :
the number o. Inhabitants within e a.
cord'ng to the last enumeration. ~a'
certificate is required to be filed wiz 80
Secretary OF State and the Couaty Clerk
or the county. and u hcrefo-e -
made In duplicate.
In the city OF New York tho Pos-
OF Aldermen takes the pla.e 90 go
board OF supervisors n the p.~r,~.ra' .
OF this function of dividing 49,. ',--
tory within he city 81 New Yo~i .,t7
Assembly districts. and II IS bound a."
the same rules as are prescribe, ..r .
Voards OF supervisors. 4 matr-.'H -
the supervisors or of the New York 49,.
Aldermen is sufficient to sign a cor,t.
cate In either case.
While these boards have n reason hs
discretion as TO tho laying out ~ Assem-.
bly, districts within the above rules 'tst
action Is subject TO revtew by ,re 81.
prenle Court"