County begins process to redraw precincts

Donley County began the process of redrawing precinct lines last Friday in the Courthouse Annex.

The commissioners’ court met in a called session with a citizens advisory committee and Bobbye C. Hill, an attorney from Wheeler who was hired by the county to oversee the redistricting.

Unlike many rural West Texas counties, Donley grew in the last ten years. The 2000 federal census found a total of 3,828 people here, an increase of more than 3.5 percent from the 1990 census.

The growth was centered in the City of Howardwick, which more than doubled its population from 205 to 437 people.

Howardwick lies entirely within Precinct One, and the lakeside city’s growth has created an imbalance with the other three precincts. Precinct One has 223 more people than the next largest precinct, which is Precinct Two with 935, according to information presented Friday. Precinct Four has the lowest population with 843.

Hill said precinct populations under the law should be split as evenly as possible to insure everyone is equally represented and that their votes count equally. The overall deviation between the precincts needs to be less than ten percent.

One solution discussed at the meeting as being the simplest would be to put part of Howardwick in Precinct Four, taking population from the largest precinct and moving it to the smallest.

The alternative would be to try to move people out of Precinct One by redrawing the precinct lines in Clarendon.

One advisory committee member said that precinct lines are confusing enough in Clarendon without redrawing them, and another said that since growth in Howardwick is where the problem lies, the solution should be in Howardwick also.

Pct. One Commissioner Ernest Johnston will get input from Howardwick on the issue facing his precinct.

Precincts Two and Three are within tolerances with their populations, but moving Clarendon’s business district from Precinct Four to Precinct Two was discussed. The move would not affect population but would allow downtown businesses to file certain small claims actions with the justice of the peace court in Clarendon rather than travel out of town.

Hill said she hopes to have the redistricting completed by the middle of July. She will hold one more meeting at some point with the citizens committee before submitting a plan to the commissioners for approval.