Precinct 4 shrinks with new maps

Hays County Commissioners voted 3-2, along party lines, to approve new county redistricting maps, following a long process that ended with a bit of controversy. (See page 3 for more information.) The vote took place at the Commissioners Court regular meeting on Tuesday, November 9.

Following the release of the 2020 Census data, the lines for commissioner precincts and justice precincts (for Justices of the Peace and constables) needed to be redrawn. In accordance with state law, every county must be equally divided into four equal commissioner precincts and conform to state and federal provisions, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Texas Guide to Redistricting.

But according to the 2020 data, Commissioner Precinct 2 had too many people and Commissioner Precinct 3 had too few, comparatively. Because Commissioner Precincts 2 and 3 were not adjacent, redrawing precinct lines was complicated, said Commissioner Walt Smith.

“Precinct 2 needed to be shrunk by about 13,000 voters, and they could only go to adjacent Precincts 1 or 4,” he explained. “When [voters were moved from Precinct 2 to Precinct 4], automatically, it put us far over our population, so we had to shift additional population into Precinct 3.”

Unincorporated land in Hays County west of Dripping Springs will now fall into Commissioner Precinct 3, while Dripping Springs proper remains in Commissioner Precinct 4. While many may not be excited about the change, another commissioner in the area adds additional representation on the commissioners court, meaning more people advocating for Dripping Springs at the county level, Commissioner Smith said.

Redistricting the five justice precincts was a simpler task — one about cleaning up boundaries, according to Commissioner Smith.

“We wanted neighborhoods to be brought back together, and we made precincts that way,” Commissioner Smith said. “If you live in the same neighborhood as somebody, that’s probably a community of interest.”

Changes to the justice precincts were minimal. The previously split La Ventana and Rim Rock neighborhoods (Driftwood) were fully brought into Precinct 4, and the split Blanco Vista neighborhood (San Marcos) was brought into Precinct 1.

The new Commissioners Precinct Map will be used for the 10 years between now and the 2030 Census. JP and constable maps may be updated more frequently.

For more information, visit hayscountytx.com.