photo by: Douglas County screenshot

Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew has prepared what could be the final version of a proposed map of five Douglas County Commission districts.

The Douglas County Clerk’s Office has created what could be the final version of a five-member Douglas County Commission map, and county leaders are set to discuss whether to adopt it this week.

The new map combines elements from multiple previous map options, specifically the “Spokes” and “Cities” maps introduced at the start of the process and “Map E,” another option submitted by Commissioner Patrick Kelly before last week’s meeting. County leaders are running short on time to make their decision about the two new commission districts added as a result of a ballot measure in November’s general election; per state statute, they have to approve a map by Jan. 1, 2023. If they opt not to approve the proposed map Wednesday, commissioners will have to meet again to approve a map before that date.

Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew lays out the criteria he used to develop the map in a letter to commissioners included with the meeting agenda materials for this week. The first few items on that list of nearly a dozen guiding principles hit on some points commissioners agreed last week should be key features — placing Baldwin City and Eudora into separate districts, and dividing the southern part of Douglas County from east to west rather than a north-south split of the county.

Not only are Baldwin City and Eudora in separate districts in the proposed map, their districts are also the two new ones, Districts 4 and 5. Lecompton is also placed into a separate district on the proposed map, but in the existing District 3. The southern part of the county, besides Wakarusa Township directly south of Lawrence, would see an east-west divide between Districts 3 and 4 set by U.S. Highway 59.

The proposed map also provides representation of the unincorporated areas of the county in most districts, Shew contends in his letter to the commission. The map has two districts, Districts 3 and 5, with below 80% of their populations located in an incorporated city.

But one district is located entirely within the City of Lawrence, and all five districts take in at least a portion of Lawrence. Shew said in creating this map, he also aimed to use existing neighborhood separations in Lawrence to guide district boundaries. Some examples include Massachusetts St. serving as a boundary between Districts 2 and 4 and Iowa St. serving as a boundary between District 1 and both Districts 2 and 4.

Shew also notes that attempts were made to keep neighborhoods in Lawrence largely whole if possible, and very few polling places throughout the county — only four out of 46 of them — will have precincts divided between different commission districts. However, the separation of Baldwin City and Eudora and their placements in the two new districts meant that District 2 had to move significantly west and thus would mean a majority of its existing precincts are changed. But that change does create a district representing all of the University of Kansas campus, Shew said, and combines neighborhoods in north central Lawrence that have “similar communities of interest.”

“Creating a map which perfectly addresses completely all criteria and concerns is almost impossible, (and) this proposed map attempts to find the balance between all of the values and criteria expressed,” Shew’s letter reads. “Some of the values compete against each other which limits options, but this proposed map successfully meets at least part of every value discussed by the commission and Douglas County residents while abiding by the law, minimizing disruption for voters and avoiding further complicating election administration at the polling place.”

Wednesday’s business meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. The meeting will also be available by Zoom. For meeting information, visit the county’s website: dgcoks.org/commissionmeetings.