Section 55401 - Creation and alteration of wards(a) In addition to reapportionment initiated in accordance with 53 Pa.C.S. Ch. 9 (relating to municipal reapportionment) and section 11 of Article IX of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, the board of commissioners may, by ordinance, do any of the following:(1) Divide townships into wards.(2) Create new wards out of two or more adjoining wards or parts of wards.(3) Consolidate two or more wards into one ward.(4) Divide any ward already erected into two or more wards.(5) Alter the lines of two or more adjoining wards.(6) Cause the lines or boundaries of wards to be ascertained or established.(b) The following shall apply:(1) No township may be divided or redivided into more than 15 wards.(2) No ward shall be created containing less than 300 registered electors.(3) At the discretion of the board of commissioners, any ward which contains less than 350 registered electors may be abolished, and the territory of the ward may be merged into a contiguous existing ward or wards. If two or more contiguous wards have respective populations not meeting the population threshold of 350 registered electors, the commissioners may consolidate those contiguous wards into one ward. All other wards shall remain as established until altered or divided as provided in this article. The composition of the wards shall be subject to subsection (d).(c) If a ward is abolished under this section and the number of wards in the township is reduced to less than five, then the commissioner or commissioners in the abolished ward or wards shall continue in office for the term for which elected, and shall become a commissioner or commissioners at large from the township.(d) All wards in the township shall be numbered and composed of compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal in population as practicable as officially and finally reported in the latest official census.1931, June 24, P.L. 1206, art. IV, § 401. Amended 1937, July 2, P.L. 2802, § 1; 1947, April 25, P.L. 123, § 1; 1949, May 27, P.L. 1955, § 10; 1963, Aug. 24, P.L. 1146, § 1; 2020, Oct. 29, P.L. 782, No. 96, § 15, effective in 60 days [Dec. 28, 2020].