Your Beaufort County district may be changing because of population shifts. What to know
Beaufort County officials will host a series of public meetings this month and in early December to present their plans to redraw the county’s 11 political districts, Administrator Eric Greenway said Monday evening.
The new maps, which will likely take a district from the northern part of the county and move it south, come after Beaufort County saw a large population boom in the southern part of the county in areas like Bluffton and its neighboring unincorporated areas, according to newly released census data.
Beaufort County’s new maps will also apply to the districts for the Beaufort County school board, according to county spokesperson Chris Ophardt.
“This will be one of the toughest redistricting efforts I have been a part of in the last 20 years,” said Dan Morgan, the county’s director of mapping and applications.
“The growth of population in the south, the growing Hispanic community and the requirements mandated by law will not leave much room for many options in how we draw the district boundaries.”
Beaufort County will redraw its districts to more closely match the population numbers released by the U.S. Census earlier this year. Federal law requires that districts have nearly equal populations — deviating no more than 10% — and not discriminate based on race or ethnicity.
The districts have to be redrawn in time for the November 2022 election, which Greenway described as a “tight time frame.”
It’s still unclear exactly how Beaufort County will redraw its districts (no maps have been publicly presented yet). County staff, according to Greenway, will begin drawing the maps this week.
Population data provided by the county shows that each council district will likely have to include around 17,011 people. The council has agreed that the population variance between districts should deviate only 5%.
The new maps will likely illustrate what many Beaufort County residents know well: Much of the growth has been concentrated near Bluffton and other areas in the southern parts of the county.
Of the 11 districts, Council member Logan Cunningham’s District 7 — which includes Bluffton’s Buckwalter area — deviates the most from the 17,011 goal, with 23,422 people, according to census data provided by the county.
Two districts in northern Beaufort County, as well as Stu Rodman’s district on Hilton Head Island, have the three highest negative deviations from the county’s 17,011 goal, the data shows.
Council member Gerald Dawson, who represents Sheldon, Dale, Burton and Lobeco in District 1, has 13,786 people in his district. Rodman has 14,314 and District 3’s York Glover, who represents parts of Beaufort, Port Royal, Lady’s Island, St. Helena and Parris Island, has 14,695.
If a council member is moved out of their district due to the new maps, they will have to run against the council member in their new district, spokesperson Ophardt told a reporter Tuesday.
Greenway said the county plans to create a website with information about the redistricting process and copies of the proposed maps once they are drawn.
Redistricting timeline
Beaufort County provided The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette with its proposed timeline for the redistricting process. All public hearings will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
▪ Nov. 8-24: County staff will analyze data, receive feedback from council members and draw the district maps.
▪ Nov. 24: The county will post its redrawn district maps for public review.
▪ Nov. 29: The county will host public hearings for Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 at the University of South Carolina-Beaufort’s auditorium in Beaufort.
▪ Nov. 30: The county will host public hearings for Districts 5, 6, 7, 9 at the Bluffton Recreation Center.
▪ Dec. 1: The county will host public hearings for Districts 8, 10, 11 at the Hilton Head Island Recreation Center.
▪ Dec. 2: Staff will use public comments to determine whether adjustments to district boundaries need to be made.
▪ Dec. 5: The county’s executive committee will decide which of the final two maps to recommend to Beaufort County Council for final approval.
▪ Dec. 13: First reading at Beaufort County Council.
▪ Jan. 10: Second reading at Beaufort County Council.
▪ Jan. 24: Third and final reading at Beaufort County Council.
Once the County Council approves the final map, staff will submit it to the S.C. Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office for review, according to the timeline.
To find your district, visit the county’s public mapping site at https://gis.beaufortcountysc.gov/voterregistration/ and type in your address on the district locator.
For more information, contact Dan Morgan at danielm@bcgov.net or 843-255-2535.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 12:34 PM.
