Douglas County invites community to discuss process to move to 5 commission districts

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Douglas County leaders will hold a community meeting to discuss the process of moving to five commissioner districts.

Voters in the Nov. 8 election voted roughly 61% to 39% to add two additional commissioner districts to the current three.

During the meeting, “County Clerk Jamie Shew will provide an overview of the process for moving to five districts. There will be an opportunity for the public to weigh in on the districts during roundtable discussions at the meeting,” according to information from the county. “The Board of County Commissioners will adopt a resolution outlining the new districts before or on Jan. 1, 2023. All of the districts need to be contiguous and have the same population size.”

The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1 in Flory Meeting Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.

What happens after the resolution is adopted will be determined by Gov. Laura Kelly, according to the county.

Kelly — with advice from the county commission — will either declare election for new districts at the next general election, which will be in November 2024, or call for a special election to be held between 75 and 90 days from the date of the board resolution, according to the county.

Shew discussed the process during the commission’s Dec. 9, 2021 meeting:

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