This article shall provide the sole procedure for the change, alteration or reformation of existing county boundaries, not authorized to be taken pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 23200) of Chapter 2 of Division 1 of Title 3 of the Government Code.

As used in this article:

Proceedings under this article shall not be subject to the provisions of the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (Division 3 (commencing with Section 56000) of Title 5), relating to local agency formation commissions.

Proceedings to change, alter, or reform the boundary lines between counties may be initiated by petition, or by resolution of the legislative body of either affected county or of any city within either affected county filed with the clerk of the transferring county.

A petition shall contain in substance the following:

The petition shall be signed by qualified electors of either affected county equaling in number not less than 25 percent of the number of electors of each county registered within the county on the date of the last preceding gubernatorial election.

When the territory to be transferred from one county to another is uninhabited, proceedings may also be initiated by a petition signed by the owners of not less than one-fourth of the land in the territory by area and by assessed value as shown in the last equalized assessment roll of the county in which the territory is situate. Such petitions shall comply with all other requirements of this article.

Each elector, after signing a petition, shall add the name of the county in which the elector resides, the elector’s place of residence, giving a street and number or a designation sufficient to enable the place of residence to be readily ascertained, and the date the elector signed the petition.

A petition may consist of a single instrument or several counterparts.

A petition may designate not more than three persons as chief petitioners setting forth their names and mailing addresses.

No petition shall be accepted for filing pursuant to this article unless the signatures thereon shall have been secured within six months of the date on which the first signature on the petition was affixed and such petition is submitted for filing as provided in Section 23241 within 60 days after the last signature is affixed. If the time between the date on which the last signature is affixed and the date on which the petition is submitted for filing exceeds 60 days, or, if any signature on the petition has been secured more than six months from the date on which the first signature was affixed, the petition shall be considered insufficient and shall be filed by the clerk as a public record without prejudice to the filing of a new petition.

All petitions shall be filed with the clerk of the transferring county. All counterparts of a petition shall be filed at the same time.

Within 30 days after the date of filing of a petition, the clerk of the transferring county shall examine the petition and determine whether it is signed by the requisite number of signers. When the clerk has completed the examination, the clerk shall certify the results of the examination.

If the clerk certifies a petition to be insufficient the clerk shall give mailed notice thereof to each of the chief petitioners, if any, and file the petition as a public record without prejudice to the filing of a new petition.

If the clerk certifies a petition to be sufficient, the clerk shall immediately transmit a copy of the certification to the board of supervisors of both affected counties and to each of the chief petitioners, if any.

In certifying the sufficiency of a petition, the clerk shall compare the name of each person signing the petition with the registration records of the county in which the person signing the petition resides.

A resolution to initiate proceedings for a county boundary change shall contain the information required for a petition by Section 23234.

Upon receipt of the certification of a petition or a certified copy of a resolution, the board of the transferring county shall forthwith transmit a copy of the certification or a certified copy of the resolution to the Governor.

Upon receipt of notice pursuant to Section 23247, the Governor shall create a County Boundary Review Commission to review the proposed county boundary change, and appoint five persons to be members of the commission. Of the five persons appointed to the commission, two shall reside within the territory to be transferred, two shall reside within the accepting county, and one shall not be a resident of either the territory to be transferred or of the accepting county.

The commission shall determine: