Quorum Court map reflects Garland County's shift in population

Garland County sees shifts

HOT SPRINGS -- The 2020 redistricting draft map presented to the Garland County Election Commission last week adjusted Quorum Court district boundaries to account for the urban to rural shift in the county's population since the 2010 census.

Justices of the peace represent district constituents on the Garland County Quorum Court, the county's budgeting and appropriating authority. They set county employee salaries and policies, and adopt ordinances that affect the health, welfare and safety of county residents.

The part-time legislators serve two-year terms, and all 13 seats will be up for election next year.

District 8 had the biggest population growth, with 8,587 people living in the area along the U.S. 70 West corridor in southwest Garland County on April 1 of last year. That's the date the U.S. Census Bureau uses when determining where people are living when they are counted for the decennial census.

The map DataScout LLC presented to the county election board moved 688 people out of District 8, putting it 2.56% over the 7,702 target population for each of the 13 districts. The target is the quotient from dividing the more than 100,000 people who the 2020 census recorded in the county by 13.

District 8 had the largest variance from the target population on the map presented Thursday. District 13 in east Garland County had the smallest. Its 7,710 population is within 0.10% of the target.

The map added more than 1,700 people to Districts 1, 2 and 3 in north, west and central Hot Springs to get within 3% of the target. More than 1,600 people were shifted from the more rural Districts 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13 to put them within 3% of the target.

"Almost every county we've worked with, the city has grown and the rural areas have shrunk," Matthew Charton, DataScout's director of geospatial services, told the Election Commission.

"You guys were the opposite. Your city has actually shrunk in relation to your more rural districts. Other counties, the rural districts grew into their cities. Your city ended up growing outward into your rural areas," he said.

District 9 in southwest Garland County ceded the area west of the U.S. 70 West bridge to District 4, putting District 9 entirely within the unincorporated area of the county. Moving the northeast part of District 8 into District 9 offset the loss, expanding the southeast piece of District 9 south to U.S. 70 West. Charton said the shift moved more than 600 District 8 constituents into District 9.

District 9 also ceded the area west of Daisy Hill Circle and south of U.S. 270 West to District 10.

District 2, which the Election Commission said is the only district that the draft map placed entirely within the city of Hot Springs, retained its majority-minority status. It lost part of its northeast section, an area Charton said has a white majority, to District 1 and gained a piece of District 3 south of Hobson Avenue and part of the Ridgeway Street corridor currently in District 1.

The Election Commission is to meet Dec. 1 to consider publishing the draft map for a 30-day public comment period. Charton said the commission has a Jan. 3 deadline on adopting a map.

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