The Lane County Home Rule Charter requires the Lane County Board of Commissioners to draw new boundary lines for the five Lane County Commissioner positions.

The new commissioner boundary lines must be drawn in such a way as to not deny any citizen equal rights. This process is called redistricting and the Lane Charter requires that it be done not less than every ten (10) years.

The lines were last drawn on October 26, 2011. The Lane Charter also requires that the new commissioner boundary lines be adopted in the form of an ordinance by the Lane County Board of Commissioners.

In order to inform their process for the 2021 redistricting, the Lane County Board of Commissioners held a number of listening sessions so that they could receive public input on the process. Those listening session were held on September 15, 2020 and December 2, 2020.

The following were stated as some of the priorities by community members during those listening sessions:

1. The IRC should reflect the geographic, demographic, and economic diversity of Lane County;


2. The IRC should have representatives of people of color, the rural/urban, and income levels of Lane County;


3. The selection of the IRC should be neutral;


4. The IRC should develop a number of plans for the Board to consider;


5. The Lane County Board of Commissioners should be required to adopt a redistricting Plan created by the IRC and not one the Board has created;


6. The IRC should operate following the Oregon Public Meetings Law;


7. Potential IRC members should be required to complete an Oregon Government Ethics disclosure form;


8. The IRC should adopt by-laws and operate according to those by-laws.

On January 26, 2021 the Lane County Board of Commissioners decided upon a framework for the creation of the IRC and the selection of its membership.

The Board decided the IRC would be composed of fifteen (15) members. Each commissioner will select one member and those five (5) will select the remaining ten (10) members. The Board also decided the IRC shall include members with the following characteristics: people of color, different ethnicity, low income, urban and rural, a variety of ages, genders and gender identification, political affiliation and non-affiliated voters, registered voters and non-registered voters. The Board also decided that there should be widespread advertising for applicants.

The Board also decided applicants would be required to complete an application form and Oregon Government Ethics disclosure form. The Board also decided the IRC would operate according to by-laws and the Oregon Public Meetings Law.

On January 26, 2021 the Lane County Board of Commissioners directed County Counsel to prepare a draft ordinance for the creation of the IRC, draft by-laws for the IRC and draft an IRC membership application for their consideration and eventual adoption.

 

The IRC will prepare at least two (2) but not more than four (4) proposed redistricting plans in the ordinance form for adoption by the Lane County Board of Commissioners as required by the Lane County Home Rule Charter Chapter III, section 3 subsections (d) and (e).

The proposed plans must comply with the relevant law relating to redistricting, voting rights and the applicable local, state and federal requirements.

The proposals must be ranked by the IRC in the order of its preference and the IRC must report to the Lane County Board of Commissioners the strengths and weaknesses of each proposal.

The first phase of redistricting began in 2019, with preparations and discussions about the desired framework for Redistricting (2019-2021).

The second phase is the formation of the Independent Redistricting Committee (IRC) and the committee's preparation for updated census data and the State's final boundary updates (August- September 2021).

The third phase begins when the data is ready. This phase includes the IRC making suggested boundary changes and ultimately making recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners (September - October 2021).

The fourth phase is when the Board of County Commissioners have recommendations from the IRC. This phase will include proposed ordinance language, a public hearing and the adoption of one of the IRC recommended maps (October 2021).

The fifth and final stage begins after a map has been adopted. Elections staff will begin their work with respective cities and districts to complete their political boundary adjustments and to complete precinct boundary changes (November-December 2021).

September 15, 2020 (Public Comment and Input)

December 2, 2020 (Work Session / Testimony from League of Women Voters and Democratic Party of Lane County)

January 27, 2021 (Presentation on Creation of Independent Redistricting Committee and Process for Selecting Members)

August 3, 2021 (Redistricting Next Steps)

The Lane County Board of Commissioners is interested in having diverse representation that includes people of different racial and/or ethnic backgrounds, identities, abilities, and perspectives who bring a connection to, relationship with and advocacy for specific communities.

On June 15, 2021, an Independent Redistricting Committee vacancy notice was sent out, followed by advertising for the application process. The vacancy closed at 4:00pm on July 16, 2021 with staff having received fifty (50) timely submitted applications. The Board of County Commissioners each received an individual packet of redacted IRC applications for their corresponding district. Each commissioner chose one committee member, for a total of 5 IRC members. The five IRC members chose the remaining 10 members plus 3 alternates on August 27, 2021. The full membership can be found under "Quick Links" as a pdf. Pr