Redistricting Comes to Eastland County
County Redistricting: What is it and why do we need it? The year 2010 U.S. Census places the population of Eastland County at 18,583. This is an increase of 286 people over the year 2000 population of 18,297. While other counties are losing numbers, Eastland County has grown slightly. This is a sign of sustainable population levels for our county during the last ten years. Our county is slowly changing from primarily a rural area to a more suburban one. Think of all the people that you know that commute to work across our county and outside of our county and you may see what I mean. How does the population change affect redistricting for Eastland County? Each County Commissioner in each county across Texas is elected by the voters within a certain precinct. The boundaries or precinct lines are set according to the population numbers within each precinct. Federal law mandates that the population numbers for each commissioner precinct will be as uniform as possible. This is why Eastland County needs to be redistricted: Our population has shifted from the unincorporated areas to the cities within our county. The need to redistrict for us is rare as the last time that Eastland County had to be reapportioned along precinct lines was after the 1970 Census.
In advance of the 2010 Census, Eastland County retained the Austin law firm of Allison, Bass to assist us in case our county had to be redistricted. After the Census, Allison, Bass used the new numbers from the Census, reviewed the existing commissioner precinct lines, and sent Commissioners Court the findings that show that we must redistrict to be in compliance with state and federal laws. Here are the actual population numbers for each precinct: Pct 1-5260, Pct 2-4382, Pct 3-3810, and Pct 4-5131. The ideal population for each precinct would be 4646. Here is where the work begins. Pct 1 and Pct 4 must decrease population while Pct 2 and Pct 3 must increase population. These changes must occur to be in compliance with state and federal laws. To have an ideal population count within each commissioner precinct, Pct 1 must decrease by 614, Pct 2 must increase by 264, Pct 3 must increase by 836, and Pct 4 must decrease by 485.
To achieve this mandated change to the Commissioner boundaries, Eastland County has had public meetings to determine how the county can change the precinct lines to adjust the population within each commissioner precinct and not have an unworkable division of county road responsibilities. To state the proposed solution another way: We need to reconfigure the precinct lines to where each Commissioner adds or subtracts population as needed without huge changes to each Commissioner’s county road and bridge duty. The redistricting to be done only concerns the County Commissioner precincts and the voting precincts for these elected positions. Justice of the Peace and Constable precincts will not have to change their boundaries. Eastland County Commissioners Court will continue to work on redistricting proposals to achieve legal compliance while best serving the citizens of our county. More public meetings will be held so citizen input can be utilized in drafting the final plan. I encourage you to watch for notices of these meetings and attend so your ideas can be heard. If you would rather phone in your concerns, please call my office number at 254-629-1263. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Rex Fields, Eastland County Judge
