Story County supervisors adopt LSA 'Plan 1' for supervisor districts and draw lots for initial terms

Story County supervisors voted Jan. 27 to adopt the Legislative Services Agency’s redistricting Plan 1 for county supervisor districts and immediately drew lots to stagger initial terms.

Auditor Lucy Martin, who explained the statutory process tied to Senate File 75 and Iowa Code 331.210(a), told the board the plans were drawn by the LSA from precinct data and that Plan 1 "has the least mathematical variance" and follows city boundaries where possible. "We're sort of making the best of a situation that we did not ask for," Martin said as she described limited ability to change the LSA maps without risking a redraw by the Secretary of State’s office.

Supervisors said the change — mandated by the legislature — removes local voters’ choice about whether to remain under the prior at-large system and warned it could create more localized incentives for future supervisors. After discussion, a supervisor moved to adopt Plan 1; the motion was seconded and carried by voice votes. The board then drew lots to assign initial term lengths. The lot draw assigned District 1 the two-year initial term; Districts 2 and 3 will have four-year initial terms.

Why it matters: The board must adopt a plan that meets state statutory criteria (contiguity, compactness and population variance). The redistricting decision changes how constituents are represented: instead of three supervisors elected at-large the county will have supervisors representing single-member districts under the new plan. County staff said the Secretary of State’s office must approve the submission and could reject or redraw plans that exceed allowable variance.

What’s next: The board will submit Plan 1 to the Secretary of State as required. The drawing of lots establishes the staggered election cycle for the new districts ahead of the filing and primary calendar.