Pursuant to Art. VIII. § 1(e) of the Florida Constitution and Chapter 124, Florida Statutes, following the decennial census, Seminole County is required to redraw its County Commission districts to evenly divide the population therein as is reasonably practicable. While there is very little specific direction in state law as to how commission districts must be configured, other than that they must be contiguous and reasonably equal in population. Over the year's, case law has defined the issues that the County Commission should consider when fixing commission district boundaries, including things such as major physical boundaries, following census blocks, existing incumbencies, other communities of interest, and political subdivision boundaries.
Following the release of the new census data earlier this year, County staff began exploring different redistricting configurations to address the shifts in population in Seminole County which have occurred since the last redistricting effort in 2011. Working in concert with the County Attorney’s Office, County Manager’s Office, and GIS staff have prepared three redistricting proposed options for consideration by the Board of County Commissioners. These options appear to meet the constitutional requirement for equal population distribution, falling within the acceptable deviation range of 5-10%. Additionally, each proposed option maintains existing incumbencies for all of the County Commissioners and School Board seats.
All three of the options were presented at advertised Community Meetings on September 22, 2021, and September 23, 2021, in Sanford and Casselberry, respectively. Additionally, staff created a webpage that provided access to the three proposed maps, an interactive map, frequently asked questions, contact information with an email address, information on the Community Meeting dates/locations, and Board of County Commissioner Meeting dates. Staff has shared the proposed maps with the School Board Superintendent and with the Supervisor of Elections prior to this meeting.
The three proposed options are offered for consideration by the Board with a request for direction on which proposal if any, the Board would like staff to move forward with in preparation for formal adoption. If the Board selects a proposed map at this meeting, October 12, 2021, staff will prepare the Redistricting Ordinance for formal consideration and adoption at a public hearing on December 14, 2021.