SMITH COUNTY, Texas — The Smith County Commissioners Court heard a presentation Tuesday of a draft map for redistricting of County Commissioner Precincts.
This was the second meeting to discuss several options of redrawing the four Commissioners Court precinct lines.
The first workshop was held on Oct. 19, when Phil Arnold, an attorney with Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta, LLP, of Austin, and GIS specialist Josh Crahan showed the Commissioners Court several options to even out populations of residents in each precinct relating to the Constitutionally-mandated redistricting process, according to the county.
The map is based on the 2020 Census data.
The court will continue the discussion and move to approve the map at the next meeting on Nov. 2.
"November the second, election day, is to hopefully vote on this proposed plan," Judge Nathaniel Moran, Smith County Judge, said.
The maps which count population growth displayed some current precincts dipping into adjacent precincts.
Jude Moran says the southeast part of the county, as well as the west part of the county, grew the slowest.
"We've adjusted on a proposed map population," Judge Moran said. "So those two precincts are just slightly larger than one in three, to account for the expected growth of these next 10 years so that we can remain in balance."
The court discussed balancing the populations of each district and staying within a 10% margin.
The proposed map, which will be presented again on Nov. 2, will be posted online giving residents in those areas a chance to voice their opinions.
"We anticipate in the next week, Nov. 2, we'll be voting on the on the map that we came out with today, which would be posted on our website," Judge Moran said. "Folks can weigh in with their Commissioner about whether or not that's a map that they think is appropriate for representation here in Smith County."
To view maps detailed by the Commissioners Court, click here.