photo by: Provided by: Douglas County

Douglas County is currently comprised of six statehouse districts with districts 54 and 42 split with neighboring counties. A proposal from House Democrats would redraw districts putting five districts entirely within the county boundaries.

The idea of a split is definitely on the minds of Douglas County’s political leaders lately.

The prospect of the city of Lawrence being moved to the 1st Congressional District — the one that includes western Kansas — while the rest of the county remains in the traditional eastern Kansas 2nd District is receiving the bulk of attention in political circles.

But, not all of the attention.

A group of Douglas County legislators also have another split on their minds — and they think there is a chance they might be able to eliminate this one.

Currently, Douglas County is represented in the Statehouse in Topeka by six members of the Kansas House of Representatives. However, only four of those six representatives live in Douglas County. That’s because two of Douglas County’s House districts also include large amounts of territory outside of Douglas County, making it difficult for Douglas County politicians to win those seats.

Thanks to a decade’s worth of population growth, as recorded by the recently completed census, there’s a chance to change that. Douglas County’s population has grown by about 8,000 residents since the last time the boundaries were drawn for the House districts in Kansas.

That increase in population now makes it mathematically possible to have five Kansas House districts entirely within Douglas County. The four Kansas House members from Douglas County recently sent a letter to the state’s redistricting committee, asking it to consider drawing a map with five districts entirely within the county.

“We don’t want to split Douglas County with other counties. I just don’t think it works,” said Rep. Mike Amyx, who represents the Kansas 45th House District. “The people representing Douglas County generally are going to know the problems their constituencies face.”

The four legislators — Amyx, Rep. Barbara Ballard from the 44th District, Christina Haswood from the 10th District and Boog Highberger from the 46th District — said placing five districts entirely in Douglas County might make it easier for legislators and constituents to connect.

“Our experience is that legislators who represent only small portions of a county participate much less frequently in countywide events, with the result that the views of the citizens in those areas are less well represented,” the four legislators wrote in their letter to the House Redistricting Committee earlier this month.

Whether the Redistricting Committee will follow the recommendations of the four Douglas County lawmakers is unknown. All four are Democrats, while the Kansas Legislature is controlled by Republicans. Douglas County is one of the few counties in the state where Democrats outnumber Republicans, so it is uncertain that the committee would look favorably on ensuring that one more Douglas County resident would have a seat in the Legislature.

The two representatives who represent parts of Douglas County but live outside of the county — Lance Neelly, who lives in Leavenworth County and represents the 42nd District, and Ken Corbet, who lives in Shawnee County and represents the 54th District — are both Republicans.

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The four Douglas County legislators, though, told the committee they believe five Douglas County districts can be created without “negatively impacting any of the current incumbents in neighboring counties, and we can provide a suggested map if it would be of interest to the committee.”

Some House districts in Douglas County are essentially assured of getting a remake. Amyx’s district, which represents parts of west Lawrence and western Douglas County, is expected to get a lot of attention in the redistricting process, as it has grown significantly in population. The Kansas Constitution requires that Kansas House districts be nearly equal in population, meaning its current boundaries would make it too large from a population standpoint.

“The 45th has really grown,” Amyx said, “so my district is going to have to shrink down.”

photo by: Provided: Kansas Legislative Research Department

Kansas House Districts map showing the deviation from population guidelines set by the Kansas Constitution. Districts in green are above the population limit and districts in orange are below the limit.

The redistricting process also includes Kansas Senate districts, which have the same equal population requirements. Kansas Senate District No. 2, represented by Lawrence resident Marci Francisco, also will require boundary changes. The district has much of its population in Lawrence but much of its land mass in Jefferson County. Francisco said it is 12,000 people over the ideal population after the latest census count.

“I will be sorry to lose any constituents,” Francisco said.

Francisco said she supports making the House and the Senate more compact and easier to understand for voters. The lines can be confusing and residents don’t always know who represents them. She has proposed legislation in the past that would actually reduce the number of representatives in the House from 125 to 120 and draw lines that clearly connect the 40 seats in the Senate to House seats divided equally, then connect those districts to the larger congressional seats.

“I want a district map drawn by county clerks,” Francisco said.

photo by: Kansas Legislative Research Dept.

Senate District Map before redistricting showing deviations in population increases and decreases from their previous district size.

Splitting of counties has consequences in regards to election security and mechanics, said Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew. The redistricting process impacts who winds up on voters’ ballots. The more confusing those lines become, the more difficult it is for residents to know who is representing them, Shew said.

“It’s less of who ends up in what district but that the work is done fairly quickly,” Shew said. “And not to split up precincts and the goal is not to split up townships.”

Splitting neighborhoods and townships reduces the ability residents have to communicate with their legislators. And each split of districts — between congressional, state House and state Senate, county representatives, board of education districts and more — requires an additional ballot style, Shew said.

The more ballot styles workers and residents have to deal with, the more work there is to do and the more room for error there is, Shew said.

“We already have quite a few ballot styles in Douglas County,” Shew said.

If the redistricting process drags on too long it will put more pressure on counties preparing for elections. The 2010 redistricting process was decided by the courts, which meant counties received district maps after the election filing deadline in June, giving county offices two days to prepare ballots.

“The more drastic the change is within a county and the later you get it, the bigger the chance is for a mistake and people to end up in the wrong district,” Shew said.

The redistricting guidelines suggest maps should be drawn according to major landmarks like rivers and roads. In 2010, legislators used a large power line to draw their map, which created additional confusion for the county.

“It cut through people’s farms,” Shew said, “So we had to look and see, does your house sit north of the power line or south of the power line, to see what district you live in.”

The deadline for redistricting maps is April 10, 2022, according to the Kansas Constitution. When legislators will start debating maps for the Kansas House and Senate districts is unclear. Thus far, the Legislature’s attention has been focused on the redistricting process for Kansas’ congressional districts. However, both the House and Senate passed a map this past week — the one that splits Lawrence and Douglas County — and it is now awaiting action by the governor, and possibly the courts if various groups follow through on threats to file a lawsuit.

The redistricting process is occurring in a major election year, meaning the new boundaries will impact who is eligible to run in races that will be decided in November. The deadline for candidates to file for 2022 elections is June 1. Primary elections, if needed, will be on Aug. 2. The general election will be Nov. 8.

While time is of the essence, the stakes also are high for how Douglas County is represented for the next decade, lawmakers said.

“Residents should be following this process close,” Amyx said. “If they have concerns, they should call the members of the redistricting committee.”

Residents who wish to follow the redistricting process can watch meetings live and archived on YouTube and see maps and written testimony at kslegislature.org.