Supervisors ready to move on redistricting

By By Chris Allen Baker / staff writer
March 24, 2002
Lauderdale County residents will have a chance to share their thoughts on proposed new district lines for county supervisors at a public hearing Monday night.
Supervisors are expected to use comments from the 6 p.m. meeting at the county courthouse to help choose one of two redistricting plans within the next few weeks.
The proposal then will head to the U.S. Department of Justice for final approval. Justice Department officials, though, will have more than just the supervisors' proposal to consider.
Obie Clark, president of the Lauderdale County chapter of the NAACP, said his organization will submit its own county redistricting plan to Justice for consideration.
County supervisors redraw district lines for themselves every 10 years to reflect shifts in population, based on the latest statistics from the U.S. Census.
The new districts will be used for 2003 elections; county supervisors and elections commissioners run from the same districts.
Craig Hitt, Lauderdale County's District 3 supervisor and president of the board of supervisors, said supervisors have reviewed about 20 redistricting maps.
Hitt said they narrowed their choices three weeks ago to two maps. All maps, including the two supervisors prefer, are on display in the Circuit Clerk's office in the county courthouse.
Supervisors appointed an advisory committee to recommend a redistricting plan. Clark was one of the committee members; he told supervisors in January he opposed their redistricting efforts.
Clark said he still believes the public has been left out of deliberations. He said county supervisors have ignored a map he submitted for consideration in January.
District 2 Supervisor Jimmie Smith said he appreciates Clark's opinion. He said that the county redistricting process has been fair and open to the public.