What would it take to secede from California? Here’s what a constitutional law expert says
If a county were to consider seceding from a state, what are the measures it would have to take?
County-level secession is not a new concept, but no single county has ever successfully seceded to become its own state, though a group of counties did split off from then-Confederate Virginia during the Civil War to become West Virginia.
A ballot proposal approved last year in San Bernardino County directed local officials to study the possibility of secession, also with the consideration of making San Bernardino its own state.
In 2015, as politically conservative proponents argued their case for splitting the rural northern third of California into a new state called Jefferson, hundreds turned up at an El Dorado County Board of Supervisors meeting in an attempt to convince the county to join the campaign.
And just last month, a resident of El Dorado County made the case for succession in a Substack post. The idea is backed by at least one former county leader.
What is the law behind a county seceding?
Based on Article 4, Section 3, of the Constitution, “Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.”
Margaret Russell, professor of law at the Santa Clara University of Law, said this law does not apply to counties.
“This language applies to the United States deciding to have a new state,” said Russell. “It also applies to existing states if they wanted to change their borders.”
Russell said that only states have the power to change their borders if they have an agreement and there is a majority vote.
“Suppose California and Nevada both have a movement to put something on the ballot to rearrange the borders of the states, that’s when Article 4 would apply with the approval of Congress and the legislature of both states,” said Russell.
What does it take for a county to secede?
First, people within the county and the state need to vote whether or not they want a county or area of the state to secede.
“Even if people organized and put it on the ballot, and even if it gets a majority vote, counties don’t have the authority to do it,” said Russell.
Not on its own, at least. If the county voted to secede, it would still need approval from the state legislature and Congress.
Russell said that if a county were able to secede and become a new state, they would have to take a lot of things into consideration including budget, legal authority, legislature and school systems.
“Municipalities have no authority of their own. They all derive from the state,” Russell said.
Russell said a single county will never have the capability to secede within its own power.
“The Constitution doesn’t give any power to counties,” said Russell. “All the power that the county has comes from the state.”
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