What is Reapportionment? How Magisterial Districts Work
What is Reapportionment? How Magisterial Districts Work
Article by Savannah Jackson
Reapportionment is the process by which the boundaries of Fiscal Court districts are redrawn based on the decennial census. The Kentucky State Constitution Section 142 requires that each county be divided into three to eight magisterial districts and that one justice of the peace or magistrate be elected from each district. Magistrates serve as members of the Fiscal Court representing their district, and the number varies from county to county with three being the legal minimum and eight being the legal maximum. Rowan County has four districts and therefore four magistrates.
“What do magistrates and the Fiscal Court do?”
The constitution is silent about the exact powers and duties of the fiscal court. The job of shaping and defining the fiscal court’s powers and duties was left to the General Assembly. A basic source for the powers and duties of the fiscal court is KRS 67.080. Under this statute, the fiscal court may:
appropriate county funds for lawful purposes,
buy and sell county property,
supervise the fiscal affairs of the county and county officers,
maintain accurate fiscal records,
exercise all other corporate powers of the county,
investigate all activities of county government, and
establish appointive offices and define their duties.
The fiscal court must:
appropriate money for the various purposes required by law;
provide for the construction, operation, and maintenance of county buildings, roads, and other property;
provide for the incarceration of persons arrested in the county; and
adopt an administrative code for the county.
Throughout the Kentucky Revised Statutes there are other laws that delegate certain powers or assign duties to the fiscal court.
“So how are those districts determined?”
Pursuant to the US Constitution’s principle of “one person, one vote” and KRS 67.045, “...the boundaries of those districts shall be drawn so that the districts are compact, contiguous, and the population of each district shall be as nearly equal as is reasonably possible.”
Reapportionment proceedings are timed according to the federal decennial census. Each county must begin reapportionment proceedings in May of the first year after the decennial census. However, as you may remember, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many delays and other issues with obtaining census data all across the country. These federal delays affected state legislative redistricting as well as local reapportionment. Temporary legislation gave counties until this year to complete their reapportionment proceedings that use decennial census data.
The fiscal court begins reapportionment proceedings by publishing notice of the planned reapportionment and appointing a reapportionment commission of three members, who must be residents of different districts and over the age of 21. The county clerk also serves as a nonvoting member of the commission. The commissioners have 60 days from the time of their appointment to set district boundary lines. The commissioners produce a written report that shows the boundaries of the districts and the estimated population of each. In drawing district lines, the commissioners should use the statutory standard that the districts are to be compact, contiguous (unbroken), and as nearly equal in population as is reasonably possible. Copies of the report of the commission must be filed in the office of the county clerk and with each member of the fiscal court. No later than 60 days after the commissioners’ report is filed, the fiscal court must adopt or amend the report and subsequently enact a county ordinance establishing the new district boundaries. Rowan County just completed this process.
“What’s different now that Rowan County has completed the process?”
The 2020 Census found that the total 2020 population for Rowan County is 24,662. The total 2020 population for each district is: District 1: 6,125; District 2: 6,167; District 3: 6,015; District 4: 6,355. The total number of registered voters for each existing Commissioner District is: (June 2023 Voter Registration Statistics Report- State Board of Elections): District 1: 4,071; District 2: 5,024; District 3: 4,291; District 4: 3,575.
The Reapportionment Commission recommended adjusting the existing Magistrate District Boundaries to coincide with 2020 Census Block boundaries. This recommendation is regarding Census Block 212059504003001 and is anticipated to have minor adjustments. The Reapportionment Commission recommends that all other Magistrate District boundary lines remain the same. The Fiscal Court has adopted the recommended new district boundaries as seen in the attached map.
"I don't know what district I live in. How can I find out?"
Do you know your voting precinct?
District 1's precincts include: North Morehead, Brushy, Courthouse, Fleming, and Pine Hill.
District 2's precincts include: Upper and Lower Farmers, Thomas Addition, and Bluestone.
District 3's precincts include: Hog Town, Clearfield, City Hall, Dry Creek, and West Morehead.
District 4's precincts include: Rodburn, Eadston, Pine Grove, and Christy.
If you don't know your voting precinct or district, call the County Clerk's Office at 606-784-5212.
How to contact your magistrate:
Ray White
Magistrate District 1
Phone: (606) 783-1529
Email: rwhite@haroldwhitelumber.com
Darrell Glover
Magistrate District 2
Phone: (606) 780-7193
Email: dlglover1200@yahoo.com
Charlie Winkleman
Magistrate District 3
Phone: (606) 784-3979
Email: winklemanfarms@windstream.net
Rob Hamm
Magistrate District 4
Phone: (606) 784-8806
Email: Robert.hamm@kctcs.edu
Keeping the public informed of everything we do is of utmost important to us in the Rowan County Fiscal Court, and publishing information like this is part of it. We broadcast all our Fiscal Court meetings live on Facebook at @RCFiscalCourt, post the minutes to rcky.us, and publish the Rowan Review newsletter every month. We hope these free and easily accessible resources will help keep our community up to date on everything we do as your county government. We as a County face new challenges and are met with new possibilities every day. We thank the citizens of Rowan County for the valuable input and feedback you provide. Your voices help to guide us so that we may better serve you and continue to implement positive change in our community. Our doors are always open to you.