Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Redistricting Deadline topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Billings County commissioners told to redraw three districts into five within 10 days
Summary
At a July 1 special meeting, commissioners were briefed on statutory requirements after a successful ballot measure and told they must subdivide the county into five districts within ten days of canvass; staff also explained appointment and ballot deadlines.
Chair opened a special meeting Monday to begin the process of converting the county from three to five commissioner districts following the canvass of election results.
Jared, who led the briefing, said the change was triggered by the recent ballot measure and that “Within the next 10 days, the county commissioners, need to divide the current 3 districts into 5.” He told commissioners they must use official census counts and aim for districts that are approximately equal in population, with an allowable variance of plus or minus 10 percent.
Jared outlined fallback options if the commission cannot agree on a plan in the 10‑day window: the commission may pass a resolution to call a redistricting board to perform a deeper review and produce a plan with broader public input. He also warned that splitting townships requires justification and authoritative population data.
The commissioners agreed to review a set of proposed maps and return for a special meeting later in the week to try to finalize a plan within the statutory period. If they cannot, Jared said, the redistricting board process would be the next step.
