With the 2020 United States Census underway, Carroll County wants to ensure that every resident is counted. Not only does the data obtained by the Census help the federal government allocate $675 billion to local governments, but the information gathered helps the Maryland General Assembly and Carroll’s Board of County Commissioners assess whether congressional, state legislative and commissioner district lines need to be redrawn.
Since Dec. 6, 2010, Carroll County’s government has been run by a board of five commissioners, with each being elected in an individual district. The five districts include: District 1, a northern district consisting of Taneytown and Manchester; District 2, an eastern district consisting of Hampstead and Finksburg; District 3, a central Westminster district; District 4, a southwestern district consisting of New Windsor, Union Bridge, and Mount Airy; and District 5, a southeastern district consisting of Sykesville and Eldersburg.
Prior to 2010, the commissioners board consisted of three commissioners elected at large. The districts currently used were created in 2005 based on data from the 2000 census by a Commission Redistricting Committee appointed by the commissioners board. On March 31, 2008, the General Assembly approved Senate Bill 675, which established the five districts, and the commissioners were elected in each district starting with the Nov. 2, 2010, general election.
The numbers that supported the creation of the current commissioner districts are from 20 years ago. Census numbers show that Carroll County had 150,897 residents in 2000 and 167,134 residents in 2010. The U.S. Census Bureau also estimates that as of July 1, 2019, Carroll had 168,447 residents. Based on these numbers, Carroll County’s population might have increased by 11.6% since the new millennium began.
More importantly, not only has the county seen a population increase since the turn of the century, but the populations of individual districts have certainly changed since 2000. For example, the 55-and-older community of Carroll Vista in Taneytown currently located in District 1 was not built until after 2000 and consists of over 400 homes. With the population increasing in Taneytown, consideration should be given to moving Manchester out of District 1 and into a new district with Hampstead, thereby forming a new North Carroll district.
Another example of a district experiencing a significant population boost over the past 20 years is District 5, which contains the unincorporated community of Eldersburg. According to the 2018 Freedom Community Comprehensive Plan, the Eldersburg area grew by 10% between 2000 and 2010, from 27,741 people to 30,531 people. Based on the population increase seen in Eldersburg, there is a good chance that District 5 would geographically shrink due to the high density in that region.
How exactly does the redistricting of commissioner districts even take place? SB675, as codified as Public Local Laws of Carroll County Section 3-101 states, “on or before May 1 following the release of each decennial census of the United States thereafter, the County Commissioners shall appoint a Commission Redistricting Committee.” This gets tricky because, according to the Census website, the deadline in which states must be delivered the redistricting counts has been pushed back from “by April 1, 2020” to “Deliver by July 31, 2021” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Who makes up this Commission Redistricting Committee? The commissioners board appoints all seven members based on three recommendations from the Carroll County Republican Central Committee, three recommendations from the Carroll County Democratic Central Committee and one recommendation from the Carroll County Board of Elections.
Once the commission is assembled, it is tasked with creating five commissioner districts that have populations that are “substantially equal.” Next, “on or before December 1 following the release of each decennial census of the United States thereafter, the Commission Redistricting Committee shall report its recommendations to the Carroll County Legislative Delegation to the General Assembly for consideration at the following legislative session.”
This means that Carroll County’s state senators and delegates would need to introduce a bill, most likely an emergency bill, allowing the legislation to become effective prior to June 1, in the 2022 legislative session that would alter the boundaries of the commissioner districts. With the 2022 legislative session ending in early April and the 2022 primary election taking place on June 28, 2022, there will be little turnaround time. However, this timeline is going to be a problem all over Maryland, with congressional and state legislative redistricting taking place at the same time as well.
Carroll County’s commissioner districts were drawn based on data that was compiled during the same year that ‘N Sync’s “Bye Bye Bye” topped the music charts, “Survivor” debuted on CBS, and hanging chads dominated the news cycle. It is certainly time for Carroll’s commissioner districts to be revisited and redrawn.
Christopher Tomlinson, a member of the Carroll County Republican Central Committee, writes from Melrose. Email him at CCTtomlinson@gmail.com.