Jackson County’s four district board of commissioners seats need to be redrawn to meet federal voting guidelines. Two of the four BOC seats currently have 17,000-plus potential voters, while the other two districts have less than 13,000 each.
District 1, which is now served by Tom Crow, has a population of 17,596, and District 3, which is served by Bruce Yates, has 17,541 residents.
District 2, which is served by Chas Hardy, has a population of 12,950 , while District 4, served by Dwain Smith, has 12,398.
The BOC discussed possible redistricting options at an all-day retreat held last week at The Georgia Center in Athens. GIS director Joel Logan presented information on redistricting. No decisions were made, but the BOC would have to begin the process immediately in order to have the new districts in place by 2012. The next timeline would be having the changes in place by 2014.
Where to draw the lines? Commissioners look at redistricting options
A redistricting plan must create districts that are relatively equal in population. The goal is to not split any voting precincts or to split as few as possible, Logan said.
The proposed redistricting map presented at the retreat splits three voting precincts — Harrisburg, South Jefferson and Talmo. An attempt was made to not split cities, however, Jefferson is in so many voting precincts that some parts of it are split, Logan said. The target population in the proposed map is 15,121 in each district.
The commissioners were asked to review the proposed plan and provide input to the county manager. Once a consensus is reached, public hearings will be held and the BOC will vote on the new districts.
A decision would also have to be made on whether to try and meet the deadlines to make the changes by 2012. BOC qualifying is in May of 2012.
“I think we need to push forward as quickly as we can,” commissioner Bruce Yates said.
The proposed redistricting map presented at the retreat splits three voting precincts — Harrisburg, South Jefferson and Talmo. An attempt was made to not split cities, however, Jefferson is in so many voting precincts that some parts of it are split, Logan said. The target population in the proposed map is 15,121 in each district.
The commissioners were asked to review the proposed plan and provide input to the county manager. Once a consensus is reached, public hearings will be held and the BOC will vote on the new districts.
A decision would also have to be made on whether to try and meet the deadlines to make the changes by 2012. BOC qualifying is in May of 2012.
“I think we need to push forward as quickly as we can,” commissioner Bruce Yates said.
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