State Senators Emanuel Jones and Brian Strickland introduced legislation on Monday, February 7, to amend the county commission districts. Districts must be redrawn to balance population following the census.
In separate legislation, the school board districts would also match the newly proposed map. Both maps maintain five districts, but renumber districts two and five.
County Commission Districts
Twitter user @elium2 compiled the text of the new districts into the map seen above. In general, the five districts can be described as follows:
- District 1 – south Henry County
- District 2 – north Henry County
- Dist. 3 – east Henry County
- District 4 – central Henry County
- Dist. 5 – west Henry County
According to analysis from Dave’s Redistricting, the new districts would maintain the existing 3-2 partisan split. This includes three districts that favor Democratic voters and two districts that lean Republican voters. The county as a whole is roughly 60% Democratic / 40% Republican.
An interactive version of the map is available on Dave’s Redistricting.
Next Steps
The Georgia General Assembly must pass local redistricting bills before candidate qualifying next month. All bills are likely to pass in the next 7–10 days. This is to allow local elections offices with sufficient time to input the new districts into the statewide database. The Secretary of State’s office has established a February 18 deadline for local elections offices to complete these changes.
The local bills must pass both chambers (house and senate) before the governor can sign them. For reference, the county commission districts are senate bill 464. Likewise, the school board districts are senate bill 463. All bills are viewable on the state website.
Moving Henry Forward will provide updates when available.
Featured image shows a map of the proposed county commission districts. Photo credit @elium2 on Twitter / Dave’s Redistricting.
