WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners is returning to seven members.
The St. Joseph County Apportionment Commission met Wednesday for the third and final time, and before the hour-long meeting concluded, its members approved a map featuring seven county districts.
The county has been represented by five commissioners since the previous apportionment commission created current boundaries following release of the 2010 U.S. Census figures. The goal of the once-every-decade apportionment is to ensure the population of commission districts is less than 12 percent apart in population.
According to the endorsed plan, districts will be divided in the following manner:
1-Flowerfield Township, most of Fabius Township and roughly the south and west sections of Three Rivers.
2-Florence and Lockport townships, a small portion of Fabius Township and roughly the north and east regions of Three Rivers.
3-Park, Mendon, Leonidas townships, and roughly the northeast quadrant of Colon Township.
4-Constantine, Mottville and White Pigeon townships. It is the only district with clearly defined borders.
5-Nottawa and Sherman townships, a large portion of Sturgis Township and a small area of Sturgis.
6-A small section of Sturgis Township and a large portion of Sturgis.
7-Burr Oak and Fawn River townships, a significant portion of Colon Township, a sliver of Sturgis Township and, for the most part, the southeast quadrant of Sturgis.
If the board’s current five members seek re-election in the August 2022 primary and maintain their current residence, the two new commissioners would come from District 2 and District 7.
New boundaries and the return to a seven-member county commission will go into effect in January 2023.
