The Smith County Commissioners Court voted unanimously Tuesday, November 2, to adopt the final redistricting plan that establishes new boundaries for the County Commissioners Court Precinct lines based on the 2020 Census data.

After holding two workshops and three public hearings, in which the Commissioners Court discussed several options, the court agreed with the new boundaries that will affect only the Commissioners Court precinct lines. 

To view the entire news release, click here: 2021-11-03 News Release Redistricting Map Adoption

To view the map with the old and new boundary lines for Commissioners Precincts, click here:

2021-11-02 Smith County Final Redistricting Map

(The red lines on the map show current precinct lines while the colors represent what will become the new precinct boundaries).

Smith County is divided into four Commissioners Court Precincts. Based on the data from the United States Census Bureau that is received every 10 years, these precincts are reexamined and, if necessary, redrawn. Redistricting is the process of redrawing electoral district boundaries based on where their populations have increased or decreased. The United States Constitution prohibits large (greater than 10 percent) population differences across precincts.

The new map includes changes in Commissioner Precinct boundary lines on the west and east sides of Smith County and leaves the County with an 8.04 percent deviation from the largest populated precinct to the smallest.

Commissioners Court held two workshops and three public hearings and has worked with attorneys from Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta, LLP, of Austin, in the Constitutionally-mandated redistricting process.

The 2020 U.S. Census data shows that Smith County grew from 209,714 people in 2010, to 233,479 people in 2020 – an 11.33 percent increase. Some portions of Smith County have grown more than others, leaving Precinct 1 the largest, with 64,780 residents, and Precinct 4 the smallest, with 52,238 people. That makes Precinct 1 overpopulated by 11 percent and Precinct 4 underpopulated by 10.5 percent. By law, the deviation from the most populous precinct to the least populous precinct must be lower than a 10 percent difference to be in compliance with the Fourteenth Amendment so that everyone’s vote counts equally.

Smith County also has five Justice Court/Constable Precincts, but those precincts are not required by law to be redrawn.

To view a current map of the Smith County Commissioners Court Precincts, click here:    

Smith County Commissioner Precincts 2021

For more information about U.S. Census and redistricting information, please click on the links below:

Redistricting Data: What to Expect and When - https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/director/2021/07/redistricting-data.html

Timeline for Releasing Redistricting Data - https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2021/02/timeline-redistricting-data.html

Redistricting Data Program Management - https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/rdo/program-management.html