Whitley County Fiscal Court approves first reading of ordinance redrawing magistrate boundaries

The Whitley County Fiscal Court has approved the first reading of an ordinance that would slightly alter the boundary lines of the county’s magisterial districts, though a second reading is still required for approval.

Magisterial boundary lines are regularly adjusted through a process called reapportionment, which is required by law every 10 years based on a county’s most recent census data. The U.S. Census Bureau conducted the last census in 2020. Normally, any reapportionment is required to be done by the following year, but this reapportionment was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Magisterial districts are required to represent a roughly equal number of the county’s population and can only vary within a 5 percent margin of one another. Because of that, there is expected to be some minor changes between District 4 and District 1, with the biggest change coming between District 3 and District 1.

Despite District 3 having the largest district based on land mass, it has the lowest population density of the four districts and the populace has continued to decrease over the years. Due to the shrinking population in that district, a portion of District 1 will be remapped into District 3, with the biggest change being in the KY92E area.

The proposed changes will only impact approximately 700 of the county’s nearly 37,000 residents.

A second reading is required before the changes can be adopted via ordinance, which is expected to come during the fiscal court’s September meeting. However, the new district boundaries will still not go into effect until Nov. 8, the day after this year’s general election.

After Nov. 8, residents living in those areas will see their magistrate and constable change to reflect their new district.