Population shifts over the last 10 years have put Lincoln Countyin a position where redistricting is needed, supervisors were toldTuesday during their regular meeting.

“While we are still in the planning and investigatory stage, itwould appear some form of redistricting is in order,” said BobAllen, the board’s attorney.

Census totals show the county growing from a population of30,278 in 1990 to 33,166 in 2000.

Redistricting consultant Bill Rigby presented supervisors withcharts showing population changes and trends during that time. Thewestern part of the county had the most growth, according to charttotals.

“That shows which areas have grown over the last 10 years andwhich areas have not grown as fast…,” Rigby said. “It shows whereto get population from and where it needs to go.”

According to totals, District 5 grew from 5,997 in 1990 to 7,044in 2000, an increase of 1,047 people. District 4 had thesecond-largest growth with an increase of 752 people from 1990’s6,318 to 2000’s 7,070.

District 1, the county’s majority black district, had thesmallest growth, going from 5,932 in 1990 to 6,220 in 2000. Thatrepresented an increase of 288 people.

In looking at redistricting, Allen said the two primaryconsiderations are equalization of district populations to adhereto one-man, one-vote provisions and minority voting strengthconsiderations.

With total county population of 33,166, an individual districtpopulation of 6,633 is considered ideal in order to comply with theone-man, one-vote guidelines.

However, with its 7,070 population, District 4 is 6.59 percentover the ideal while District 1 is 6.23 percent below the ideal.That creates a total variance of 12.81 percent.

“The general rule of thumb is no more than 10 percent,” Allensaid.

Officials briefly discussed racial considerations duringTuesday’s meeting.

The county’s redistricting plan following the 1990 Census setDistrict 1’s population at 65.54 percent black. Census 2000 dataput the percentage at 65.77 percent black.

Rigby pointed out there was noticeable increase in District 1’s”other” race category, which rose from .02 percent in 1990 to 1.50percent in 2000. He indicated that would have to be looked at inthe redistricting process.

Early in the process, Rigby said he wanted to review countydistrict line data to compare to census block totals and make suredistrict populations are accurate. He said one line change duringthe data collection process could alter totals considerably.

Allen’s office is working to supply the county data.

“We’ve never found census data to be completely accurate in anyform of redistricting,” Allen said.

The county has budgeted $40,000 to handle redistricting mattersthis year.

Allen said a public hearing will be held when a new districtline map is developed. He expected Rigby would be making monthlyappearances as officials work on redistricting.

“We’re pushing to try to dispose of it,” Allen said, adding thathe hoped to submit a redistricting plan to the U.S. Department ofJustice by late spring.

Any redistricting plan must be pre-cleared by the justicedepartment in accordance with Voting Rights Act guidelines.

In other business Tuesday, supervisors approved a deedtransferring the county’s interest in Brookway Boulevard to thecity, which has been maintaining the section of road betweenHighway 51 and Interstate 55.

For years, officials thought the section was owned by the state.However, following a records check, it was revealed the propertywas never deeded to the state after the boulevard wasconstructed.

Also Tuesday, supervisors approved a deed allowing King’sDaughters Medical Center to exchange some land it owns on BrookmanDrive for the building currently occupied by the SouthwestMississippi Mental Health Complex in front of the hospital.Although a timeframe is not certain, KDMC officials toldsupervisors earlier that the mental health complex building wouldbe needed for future hospital expansion.

Supervisors’ approval of the exchange was needed because of areverter clause in a 1974 agreement that allowed construction ofthe mental health building. Allen said that clause has put in thenew deed.

“If it ever ceases to be used for medical purposes, it comesback to Lincoln County,” the attorney told supervisors.