The potential commissioner precinct redistricting comes as the county works to correct its voter precincts after state Rep. Matt Morgan, R-Richmond, sent a letter to commissioners in February saying 37 of 174 of the county’s voter precincts during the November election didn’t meet state population requirements.
Zooming in
Meyers said he was proposing the new commissioner precinct redistricting alongside the voter precincts to ensure the county was meeting all state and federal laws. Additionally, he alleged his attorney determined the maps approved in 2021 were illegal based on placing certain areas together based on race.
“Federal law does not allow race as a predominant factor in redistricting, and statements made during the Commissioners Court when the redistricting map was being approved clearly shows race was a factor in drawing the map—this poses a potential serious legal program for the county,” he said. “The most important thing at this moment is that our county precinct map should reflect and fully comply with both federal and state law.”
Meanwhile, County Judge KP George said the 2021 map was proposed by his office and never reviewed by outside counsel. Additionally, he said he did not know it was illegal to say that one precinct was more African American focused, while another was primarily Asian American.
“I believe we need to continue this process to address this issue,” he said.
However, Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy said he believes redrawing the commissioner precincts now is “disingenuous and baseless.” He urged the court to wait on data from the 2030 census to determine how the county should redraw its lines.
“Any manipulation of precinct boundaries to serve political retribution rather than representational fairness is an affront to democracy,” he said in a May 28 news release. “It is not American. I will continue to stand up against these attacks and defend the rights of every resident in our county.”
Ultimately, Meyers withdrew his new proposed maps and said he was unsure if the matter would be brought back before commissioners at this time.
What they’re saying
Over 20 residents came to speak on the redistricting including Bob Hebert, who represented the Fort Bend Business Coalition. Hebert encouraged the community to wait for feedback before approving maps, and he said he believes commissioners should consider a citizens committee to help guide the potential redistricting process.
“Voters should choose their elected officials; elected officials should not choose their voters,” he said. “We understand the current [voter] precinct map requires changes before the next Commissioners Court election in November 2026. ... There’s no reason to act on either of these map items right now.”
Others such as Linda Mixon applauded Meyers for his transparency in the issues, including hosting three public meetings on Memorial Day to ensure residents could get their questions answered ahead of the May 27 court meeting.
“[Meyers] was the only commissioner who had meetings; no other commissioners had meetings,” she said. “He is trying to be fair here, trying to do the right thing. ... He’s giving you the opportunity to speak out.”
Looking ahead
The new voter precincts are expected to come back to commissioners at the June 10 meeting, county officials said.
