The Aransas County Commissioners Court unanimously voted to contract with James P. Allison of Allison Bass McGee LLP to redraw the county's voting precincts in response to a redistricting plan passed during the Texas Legislature's second called session that divides the county between U.S. House districts.

County election staff told the court the new congressional line cuts through the middle of the county and that state rules prevent a voting precinct from containing more than one congressional district. Staff said the change affects all voting precincts except Voting Precinct 2 and estimated—without legal certainty—that the county may need to add about three voting precincts to comply. The court approved the contract and voted "aye" for the motion.

County staff advised the court that any precinct ordering must be completed by Oct. 1; those precinct changes, once ordered, do not affect ballots until Jan. 1 following the next election cycle. Staff clarified that the changes will not affect the November election and that the adjusted precincts take effect beginning with the next election year (county staff indicated that would be 2026). The court discussed but did not change commissioner precincts or justice of the peace precincts; staff said those jurisdictions are tied to census-based data and the current work is limited to voting precincts required by the new federal-congressional map.

During the public comment period, Jeff Putts, who signed up to speak on the item, criticized the state-level redistricting and urged the court not to place the financial burden on local residents. Putts told the court it was unfair to ask ‘‘Democrats in your community to help fund the redistricting’’ and suggested regional or party funding instead.

Court members asked staff to pursue the contract with Allison, who has previously done this work for the county, and to return with precise maps, the final number of precincts, and any recommended alignment with city wards for the court's consideration.

The motion to contract with James P. Allison passed on a unanimous voice vote with Commissioners Cheney, Castellan, Russo and Dupnik and County Judge Garza voting "aye."