13 U.S.C. § 141 : US Code - Section 141: Population and other census information

Search 13 U.S.C. § 141 : US Code - Section 141: Population and other census information

(a) The Secretary shall, in the year 1980 and every 10 years
thereafter, take a decennial census of population as of the first
day of April of such year, which date shall be known as the
"decennial census date", in such form and content as he may
determine, including the use of sampling procedures and special
surveys. In connection with any such census, the Secretary is
authorized to obtain such other census information as necessary.
(b) The tabulation of total population by States under subsection
(a) of this section as required for the apportionment of
Representatives in Congress among the several States shall be
completed within 9 months after the census date and reported by the
Secretary to the President of the United States.
(c) The officers or public bodies having initial responsibility
for the legislative apportionment or districting of each State may,
not later than 3 years before the decennial census date, submit to
the Secretary a plan identifying the geographic areas for which
specific tabulations of population are desired. Each such plan
shall be developed in accordance with criteria established by the
Secretary, which he shall furnish to such officers or public bodies
not later than April 1 of the fourth year preceding the decennial
census date. Such criteria shall include requirements which assure
that such plan shall be developed in a nonpartisan manner. Should
the Secretary find that a plan submitted by such officers or public
bodies does not meet the criteria established by him, he shall
consult to the extent necessary with such officers or public bodies
in order to achieve the alterations in such plan that he deems
necessary to bring it into accord with such criteria. Any issues
with respect to such plan remaining unresolved after such
consultation shall be resolved by the Secretary, and in all cases
he shall have final authority for determining the geographic format
of such plan. Tabulations of population for the areas identified in
any plan approved by the Secretary shall be completed by him as
expeditiously as possible after the decennial census date and
reported to the Governor of the State involved and to the officers
or public bodies having responsibility for legislative
apportionment or districting of such State, except that such
tabulations of population of each State requesting a tabulation
plan, and basic tabulations of population of each other State,
shall, in any event, be completed, reported, and transmitted to
each respective State within one year after the decennial census
date.
(d) Without regard to subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this
section, the Secretary, in the year 1985 and every 10 years
thereafter, shall conduct a mid-decade census of population in such
form and content as he may determine, including the use of sampling
procedures and special surveys, taking into account the extent to
which information to be obtained from such census will serve in
lieu of information collected annually or less frequently in
surveys or other statistical studies. The census shall be taken as
of the first day of April of each such year, which date shall be
known as the "mid-decade census date".
(e)(1) If -
(A) in the administration of any program established by or
under Federal law which provides benefits to State or local
governments or to other recipients, eligibility for or the amount
of such benefits would (without regard to this paragraph) be
determined by taking into account data obtained in the most
recent decennial census, and
(B) comparable data is obtained in a mid-decade census
conducted after such decennial census,
then in the determination of such eligibility or amount of benefits
the most recent data available from either the mid-decade or
decennial census shall be used.
(2) Information obtained in any mid-decade census shall not be
used for apportionment of Representatives in Congress among the
several States, nor shall such information be used in prescribing
congressional districts.
(f) With respect to each decennial and mid-decade census
conducted under subsection (a) or (d) of this section, the
Secretary shall submit to the committees of Congress having
legislative jurisdiction over the census -
(1) not later than 3 years before the appropriate census date,
a report containing the Secretary's determination of the subjects
proposed to be included, and the types of information to be
compiled, in such census;
(2) not later than 2 years before the appropriate census date,
a report containing the Secretary's determination of the
questions proposed to be included in such census; and
(3) after submission of a report under paragraph (1) or (2) of
this subsection and before the appropriate census date, if the
Secretary finds new circumstances exist which necessitate that
the subjects, types of information, or questions contained in
reports so submitted be modified, a report containing the
Secretary's determination of the subjects, types of information,
or questions as proposed to be modified.
(g) As used in this section, "census of population" means a
census of population, housing, and matters relating to population
and housing.