HomeMy WebLinkAbout030722ra02ar JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
Mark McCauley, Interim County Administrator
FROM: Heidi Eisenhour, Commissioner
Quinn Grewell,Elections Coordinator
Kevin Hitchcock, GIS Coordinator
DATE: March 7, 2022
SUBJECT: HEARING to Review and receive comment on options for redrawn precincts;
Virtual Hearing Scheduled for Monday, March 7, 2022 at 10:45 a.m.
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
We are redrawing precincts in light of our recent redistricting process (where new congressional and
state legislative district boundaries and Commissioner districts are drawn after the Federal census
every ten years) completed in late December. With new Commissioner districts established, we
collected community input and developed these draft updated precincts. The deadline to adopt updated
precincts is May 2, 2022 for jurisdictions that elect members of their governing body in 2022.
This Virtual Public Hearing is to hear input for Commissioners to consider. At their regular Monday
meeting on March 21, 2022, they will consider further input received, deliberate and adopt revised
Precinct Boundaries. Public comment will be accepted through Noon on Friday, March 18.
ANALYSIS:
In updating precincts, we adhered to guidance from the Washington State Secretary of State:
(a) A precinct cannot straddle congressional, legislative district line or county commissioner district line
(b) A precinct cannot straddle city or town boundary
(c) By state law, a precinct may not contain more than 1,500 active voters.None of ours do.
(d) Precincts should be contiguous (no gaps or holes) and compact in shape
(e) Precinct lines should follow visible physical features (roadways, waterways, power lines, etc.) and
boundaries of local jurisdictions
In addition to this guidance, based on input received at our roundtable with Jefferson County Republican and
Democratic Party leaders we worked to get our precincts equal in population and to reduce the number of
`splits' (where special purpose districts such as school or fire are split in multiple precincts) caused by our
redrawn boundaries.
Activities to date:
January 27, 2022 Held a roundtable with Republican and Democratic Party leaders to solicit priorities for
updated precinct boundaries.
February 28 Updated precinct boundaries made public via the Jefferson County website and
roundtable attendees notified.
March 7 Public hearing on updated Jefferson County precinct boundaries.
March 21 Final deliberation and adoption updated precinct boundaries by Commissioners.
May 2 Deadline for county legislative authorities to adopt precinct boundary changes,
including changes to accommodate new district lines, for the 2022 election cycle (RCW
29A.16.040)
FISCAL IMPACT:
N/A
RECOMMENDATION:
Review, hear input and discuss updated Precinct boundaries.
REVIEWED BY:
.5/3/Z.7-
Mark McCaule , nterim County Admi r istrat• Date