photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

The Douglas County Commission discusses redistricting during its Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022 meeting.

Douglas County commissioners say it will take at least one more week to decide on a new map of districts for an expanded five-member commission — and it’ll likely be around two more years before the representatives who fill those new seats are actually elected.

Though they may not have chosen a map at their meeting on Wednesday, commissioners did seem to reach a consensus about how and when the new district’s representatives should be elected. They agreed that waiting until the 2024 general election seemed to be the best move.

Along with approving a new map, the commission has to make a recommendation to Gov. Laura Kelly about how to elect the new commissioners. The options are waiting until 2024 or calling a special election that can take place no later than 90 days from the date of the resolution adopting the new map.

Members of the public, both on Wednesday and at earlier commission meetings, have expressed a preference for the special election option so the new commissioners can be seated as soon as possible. But commissioners worried about a short turnaround if a special election were called, with just the 90-day window for unaffiliated candidates to file a petition to appear on the ballot.

“I have to say, the timeline of that is so short,” Commissioner Patrick Kelly said. “I appreciate those who come tonight and tell us ‘The entire county has decided we need to have this, and we need to have it now,’ and I’m not sure that I read that the same … There are a lot more people who aren’t here that might ask for more time in choosing their county commissioner; that’s the sense that I get right off the bat.”

Commissioner Shannon Reid worried about voter participation with a special election. And the commissioners said that waiting until the 2024 election would let voters choose commissioners for four of the five districts at once — the existing Districts 2 and 3, and the new Districts 4 and 5 — but that some people taking part in the redistricting conversation wouldn’t get to vote in a special election that only covered two districts.

• • •

Commissioners did narrow down some of the features they’d like to see in the map they’ll ultimately have to approve, and they asked to see what will likely be a couple of final map options a week from now.

For one, commissioners discussed whether the county’s two largest municipalities outside of Lawrence, Eudora and Baldwin City, might be better served in the same district or separate ones. They agreed that keeping the two cities separate was likely the best course of action. Commissioner Karen Willey said each city would likely get more individual attention that way, and Kelly said the Panasonic battery plant coming to nearby De Soto will likely have much different effects in Eudora than it will in Baldwin City.

Commissioners also expressed some interest in splitting the southern area of the county between the east and west, rather than a north-south split of the county.

The commissioners have to approve a new map by Jan. 1, 2023, and they’re required to follow a number of guidelines. That includes crafting five districts that are roughly equal in population size and are contiguous. Commissioners also have to take into account their current residences, as they can’t be moved into new districts.

The commission is set to meet next Wednesday to continue its discussion about redistricting.