On February 4, 2019, and on August 10, 2020, the El Paso County Commissioners Court unanimously approved two resolutions brought forth by the League of Women Voters and supported by other community stakeholders calling for the “fair, fully transparent, impartial, and depoliticized process for the drawing of local, state legislative, and congressional districts of near equal population.” The court has followed by approving, on Feb. 8, Legislative Values statements in support of these principles, to be included in the County’s legislative agenda.

This draft policy continues those efforts by creating a County Redistricting Commission modeled after best practices applied elsewhere at the state and local levels; for example, the state of Utah, and the City of Austin. In the case of Austin, the municipality’s redistricting commission has final authority over maps. However, counties in Texas do not have the ability to delegate that authority. This draft policy is being presented concurrently with a legislative bill proposal that would allow El Paso County to do so.

Should such a bill not be possible, or should it pass and the Commissioners Court does not decide to delegate such authority, this policy would allow for a citizen-led process using Fair Maps principles in a manner that is transparent, impartial, and entirely nonpartisan, subject to final approval by the court.