(a) Before circulating any petition pursuant to this article, the proponents shall file with the clerk as provided in Section 23325, a notice of intention to do so. The notice shall be accompanied by a printed statement not exceeding 500 words in length, stating the objectives to be achieved by creating the new county. The notice shall also specify the date of a public hearing, which shall be set not less than 30 days nor more than 60 days after filing of the notice, to be held in an appropriate place, as determined by the clerk of the county from which the new county is to be formed or the clerk of the principal county, as the case may be, for purposes of discussing the placement of the boundaries of the proposed county.
(b) The notice of intention required pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be published by the clerk at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in each affected county. It shall also be posted by the clerk in such appropriate public places as determined by the clerk.
(c) The clerk shall also act as an impartial moderator of the public hearing required by this section.
(d) 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 23325 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.
(e) No petition shall be circulated pursuant to this article until 60 days after the filing of the notice of intention pursuant to this section.
(Amended by Stats. 1979, Ch. 370.)