Two county redistricting maps available Supervisors hire law firm for representation in lawsuit

Published 12:11 pm Tuesday, March 22, 2011

No public hearing is set on the two plans preferred by Warren County supervisors to redraw their districts — but shaded maps are available for viewing as the board considers justice court districts and its legal defense in a multi-county lawsuit.

Maps show predominately black sections of Vicksburg and Warren County moving into adjacent districts for county supervisor and school board elections. Population losses inside the city shown by the 2010 census prompted a redrawn map to be submitted for federal approval.

At the behest of Board President Richard George, the board held back on a formal acknowledgement of the two plans hashed out in recent meetings with Central Mississippi Planning and Development District. A public hearing to display both plans for the five political districts and a separate map showing certain changes to the county’s three justice court districts will be set after supervisors meet a third time with CMPDD, George said. Talks are scheduled Wednesday at the regional planning firm’s Jackson offices.

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Districts 2 and 3 gain population in both plans. Land along U.S. 80 between the city limits and Bucks Drive, extending north to Culkin Road and south along Mississippi 27 to Stenson Road, would move to District 2 in the first plan. The second version excludes the city limits-to-Bucks Drive strip of territory, currently in District 1.

District 3 would gain in two spots in the first plan — along U.S. 61 South to the city limits, bounded to the south by Grange Hall Road, and a piece south of East Clay Street between Old Highway 27 and Mississippi 27. In the second version, the central city-based district gains neighborhoods between Halls Ferry Road and Wisconsin Avenue.

The county’s northern, central and southern districts for justice court posts also stand in elections for constables who serve the court’s papers.