The recent census required the precinct lines for County Commissioners and Justices of the Peace in Orange County be redrawn in the coming weeks. The Commissioners Court approved the proposed redistricting as drawn during a meeting Thursday.
Attorney Robert Bass who specializes in redistricting issues in Texas informed the Court that the county had a population deviation of 23.23 percent between the four precincts. State law requires the deviation between the populations in the precinct not to exceed 10 percent thus the necessity to redraw the precinct lines in Orange County.
Precinct 3 is the only precinct that currently is populated above the ideal figure of 21,202 citizens, but it was 50.5 percent more than the ideal. Bass took suggestions from the Commissioners to modify his earlier proposed redistricting map.
The map approved by the Court had all the precincts within one percent of the ideal population for a total of 1.42 deviation which is acceptable under state law. Bass promised giving the Commissioners Court an enlarged wall map showing the redrawn precincts lines by the third week of October.
A public hearing will be called to allow for citizens’ input on the new precinct boundaries. The date of that hearing was not scheduled during the Commissioners’ meeting on Thursday.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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