Carbon County Commissioners receive update on legislative redistricting
As the Wyoming Legislature goes through the once-in-a-decade process of redistricting, it appears the 2020 Census may have negative impacts for Carbon County following the December meeting of the Joint Corporations Committee.
In an update on the process from Carbon County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett on December 7, the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) were made aware of the potential dissolution of House District 47. The district, which encompasses most of Carbon County—with the exception of Rawlins and Sinclair—and portions of Sweetwater County and Albany County, is the largest in Wyoming in terms of square miles but represents less than 8,000 residents.
“I went and testified on behalf of Carbon County, as far as election districts are concerned. I wasn’t speaking for or against any particular plan because there was numerous plans out there. Some of which I hadn’t, unfortunately, seen because nobody sent them to me,” said Bartlett. “Regardless, they did it off a draft statewide plan that eliminated House District 47. It would provide an additional House District to the eastern portion of the state, essentially Laramie County with their added population.”
The statewide plan adopted by the Joint Corporations Committee on December 2—also known as Statewide Compilation Plan 1 - Zwonitzer—removes House District 47 and extends both House District 39 and House District 15.
The latter district currently includes only Rawlins and Sinclair and is represented by Donald Burkhart, Jr. (R - Rawlins) Under the currently adopted plan, Burkhart’s area of representation would grow to include half of Carbon County’s borders and would include the municipalities of Hanna and Medicine Bow.
House District 39, which is represented by Marshall Burt (L - Green River), currently encompasses Green River and part of Rock Springs. Under the currently adopted plan, House District 39 would include the remaining portion of House District 47 with the exception of Farson-Eden and Rock River. Rock Springs and North Rock Springs, meanwhile, would be included in House Districts 17 and 48, respectively.
“My comments were strictly limited to following our election boundaries for Carbon County. It’s difficult to administer an election with a bunch of splits in your voting districts which create additional ballots,” Bartlett said. “The initial plan submitted by the legislators in Sweetwater County that I hadn’t seen split Hanna, a town of about 700 people. So it just didn’t really make a whole lot of sense for Carbon County.”
The plan Bartlett referenced—known as Region 9, Submission 1—extends House District 15 to include just a portion of Hanna. Not only is Elmo included in House District 47 but so is the neighborhood of Hanna from Mica Court to Beryl Court.
“That’s where it stands today. Our legislators are tasked with commenting for us so, I think, if you have any comments on the elimination of the House District in Carbon County or how, I think it’s (House District) 39 will come from Sweetwater—part of Green River—over into the rural areas of Carbon County,” said Bartlett. “If you have any comments on that, I would definitely get those to our representatives and senator.”
Following Bartlett’s update, Chairman John Johnson asked Commissioner Travis Moore—who is the chairman of the Carbon County Council of Governments (CCCOG)—to bring the subject of redistricting up at the next CCCOG meeting. Johnson added the loss of House District 47 could be seen two different ways; either as no representation from outside the city of Rawlins or as no representation within the city of Rawlins.
“I talked with Speaker (Eric) Barlow yesterday and kind of let him know I wasn’t happy with how it was going. I kind of got from him that there’s a bunch of them in the legislature that are still scratching their heads over all these different things,” said Commissioner John Espy. “The perceived grab of a legislative district for Laramie County, I think, has (cough) quite a few people outside that little corner of the state.”
All proposed legislative redistricting maps, both statewide and by region, can be found on the Wyoming State Legislature website (wyoleg.gov) under “2022 Legislative Redistricting”.
The Joint Corporations Committee will have met on December 14.
The next meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners will be at 9 a.m. on December 21 at Carbon Building - Courthouse Annex in Rawlins.
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