Residents may have more room to stretch out their legs as population appears to be spreading out a bit more in Mobile County.
According to the Mobile County Commission’s updated redistricting plan approved Monday, commission District 1, which makes up the northeast third of the county, suffered substantial population loss, with more than 10,000 residents being lost in the past decade.
The boundary lines are prepared in accordance with the 2020 decennial Census results and in compliance with the Federal Voting Rights Act. The goal for redistricting is to craft three districts with equal one-third representation.
The Mobile County Commission is authorized by the State Legislature to redraw its district boundaries to reflect population shifts in the county, as indicated by the Census. Any changes are to take effect before the next commission election in 2024.
The population during the last redistricting process 10 years ago was 412,992, according to information provided on the County Commission’s webpage. The 2020 Census reports Mobile County’s population grew by just roughly 2,000 in 10 years, raising the population to 414,809.
Between 2010 and 2020, District 1, which is represented by Commission President Merceria Ludgood, lost 10,182 persons.
District 2, represented by Connie Hudson, gained 6,884 persons and District 3, represented by Randall Dueitt gained 5,115 persons.
In order to balance and account for the population change, the three district boundaries have been redrawn to even out the population in each district. In the new Mobile County Commission boundary map, District 1 will have 138,197 persons, District 2 will have 138,175 persons and District 3 will have 138,437 persons, which represents 0.04 percent difference between district populations.
The most substantial changes to the district lines come where all three districts converge in the southwest corner of the city of Mobile. District 1 is losing the communities of Colonial Heights, Overlook, Cody, and Hillsdale. Those areas are now in District 2. However, it is picking up the rest of the northern border of Mobile County and will spread westward from Citronelle all the way to the Alabama-Mississippi line.
District 2 makes up the eastern third of the county. The new map has the district losing the county area north of Airport Boulevard and will not have a boundary line at Tanner Williams Road. District 2 is picking up the Sheldon community and the eastern portion of the Kimberline area. It’s also now branching deep into midtown Mobile to now include the communities of Hannon Park, Park Place, Dauphin Acres and Brookwood. These were formally District 3 areas.
District 3 is picking up the county area between Airport Boulevard and Tanner Williams Road. It’s also picking up the communities of Terrace Hills and Skyland Park, which were both formerly District 2 areas.
The new district boundaries will take effect immediately and remain until at least through the 2030 Census.
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