Putnam Commission Makes Final Approval On Redistricting Plan

The Putnam County Commission gave final approval Monday on a 12-district redistricting plan consistent with the current system.

Commissioner Ben Rodgers said districts four and nine will be bigger while districts five and ten will be smaller. Once fully implemented, each district of Putnam County will have about 6,700 residents.

Rodgers said the committee met six times in the past 90 days to achieve an about six percent deviation.

“The plan has been approved, but as far as the commission lines, they won’t move until September 1 when the election occurs in 2022,” Rodgers said. “All the people living currently where they are at stay in the district they’ve been in, and once September 1, there is going to be some people moved to another district.”

Rodgers said notices will be coming in the future from the administrator of elections to let residents know which district they are in. Rodgers said the election commission now has to establish voting precincts in time for the next election.

“Michelle Honeycutt, the election administrator and myself along with the election commission will meet and draw the new voting precincts lines, because they kind of got to match up with the district boundaries,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers said the matter would not have to be approved by the commission. Rodgers said once the precincts are complete, redistricting is complete in Putnam County.

However, work for the redistricting committee does not end with this approval. Along with the motion to adopt the 12-district plan, Commissioner AJ Donadio moved to keep the committee together to address a private act the county passed in 1993.

Committee Chair Bob Duncan said current law only allows Putnam County to alter districts so long as a six school district, 12 commissioner district framework is maintained. The private act prevented the consideration of a seven-district plan this census round.

Duncan said if changed, future commissioners would have more flexibility when redistricting comes again. Commissioner Terry Randolph made a motion that ultimately passed giving a year deadline for the committee to bring a recommendation to the full commission.