Education Code section 72026

(a)

Notwithstanding any other law, if the governing board of a community college district finds that the boundaries of trustee areas do not conform to the district’s geography or population distribution due to annexation of territory to the district after the trustee boundaries were formed, the board may, in its discretion, order a special election seeking voter approval for rearrangement of such areas in the manner provided in this section.

(b)

(1)Upon adoption of a resolution by a majority of the members, the board shall call and conduct at least one public hearing on the proposed rearrangement of trustee area boundaries by publishing notice of the proposed rearrangement in accordance with Section 6061 of the Government Code. The notice shall be published at least 10 days prior to each hearing to be held and shall state the time and place of the hearing and the general nature of the proposed boundary rearrangement.

(2)

At the conclusion of the public hearing or hearings, the board may adopt a resolution by majority vote of its members ordering a special election on the proposed rearrangement of trustee areas within the district. The election shall be consolidated with the next scheduled primary or general statewide election and shall be called and conducted by the county superintendent of schools having jurisdiction in the manner otherwise prescribed for elections in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 5300) of Part 4 of Division 1 of Title 1.

(c)

The ballot shall contain the following words properly located on the ballot: “Shall the trustee areas in _____ (insert name) Community College District be rearranged?” To the right of or below those words, the words “Yes” and “No” shall be printed on separate lines, with voting targets. If a voter marks the voting target next to the printed word “Yes,” the voter’s vote shall be counted in favor of the adoption of the rearrangement. If the voter marks the voting target next to the printed word “No,” the voter’s vote shall be counted against its adoption.
(d)If the proposal for the rearrangement of trustee areas within the district pursuant to this section is approved by a majority of the electors voting at the election and it appears that one or more trustee areas in the district will not be represented in the membership of the governing board or that one or more trustee areas will have more than its allotted number of representatives in the membership of the governing board, the county superintendent of schools having jurisdiction shall call and conduct an election to determine who shall represent such trustee area or areas at the next regular election for community college trustees as otherwise provided by law. The term of office of a newly elected and qualified member shall expire on the date the term of the former member would have expired if the former member had remained in office. If the offices of two or more members become vacant due to the operation of this subdivision, the county superintendent of schools shall determine by lot which term of office of former members shall be assumed by which of the newly elected and qualified members.

Source: Section 72026, https://leginfo.­legislature.­ca.­gov/faces/codes_displaySection.­xhtml?lawCode=EDC§ionNum=72026.­ (updated Jan. 1, 2026; accessed Dec. 15, 2025).

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Verified:
Dec. 15, 2025

§ 72026's source at ca​.gov