By Myrna Trauntvein
TN Correspondent
Juab County commissioners decided to call for a redistricting of the Juab School District voting districts and approved redrawing precinct lines before the 2026 November election.
A committee worked to build new school voting districts and precincts that would fit the new population numbers and the new voting numbers.
Committee members were: Tanielle Callaway, county clerk/auditor; Tracy Painter, county planning and zoning administrator assistant; Darin Clark, Juab School District Business Administrator, and Marty Palmer, county commissioner.
“We placed Levan in a school voting district by itself so that the school board member from Levan would just represent that area,” said T. Painter.
She said that a small area of the south end of Nephi had been included with Levan in the previous voting district. However, as the south end of Nephi continued to grow, Levan may have lost a representative on the school board if that had continued.
According to state code, counties can take into account specific needs: political party considerations; geographic boundaries; administrative requirements.
”Rocky Ridge and Mona will stay in the same district,” she said.
When the model was discussed, all of the elected school board members would still live in the school board district that elected them.
“The school board voting districts are based on population,” said T. Painter.
In Utah, school board voting areas are generally referred to as voting districts.
“Feedback from the school board was that they approved,” Callaway said.
She said that Tintic has six school board zones. Callao has its own zone and that is number five.
Juab School District is divided into five zones for school board representation, covering areas like Mona, Nephi (multiple zones), and Levan
“We had two board members in one district in Tintic,” she said. “They wanted the line to cross both sides of Main Street and that solved the problem.”
T. Painter said that the population numbers were about the same so that it worked out.
Due to the increase of registered voters in Juab County, the State of Utah did some redistricting in 2022 finding that the following precincts which were required to be split: Eureka 5, Nephi 3 and 5, and Mona 5.
Usually, these redistricting adjustments follow major census counts or significant population booms, like the 22 percent growth between 2010 and 2022.
“We looked at registered voters in setting boundaries for the precinct numbers,” said Callaway. “We used population numbers for the school districts and the number of registered voters in an area for the precincts.”
Counties typically need to redistrict every 10 years after the U.S. Census to ensure districts have equal populations, aligning with federal requirements for fair representation, but some local rules or court orders can trigger redistricting more often, said C. Painter.
“The primary driver is the decennial census, which provides updated population counts, leading to redrawing district lines for fairness,” he said.
Callaway said that within 30 calendar days after the change of a voting precinct, the county files with the Utah Geospatial Resource Center, a notice describing the action taken and specifying the resulting boundaries of each voting precinct affected by the action.
The county legislative body is to alter or divide voting precincts so that each voting precinct contains not more than 1,250 active voters at the time of the redistricting.
The county legislative body may establish, divide, abolish, alter, or change a voting precinct on or before January 31 of a regular general election year that immediately follows the calendar year in which the Legislature divides the state into districts in accordance with Utah Constitution.
“The boundaries for local school board member districts are drawn by the county,” said Clinton Painter, commissioner.
A voter’s specific ballot is determined by their residential address, which places them within a unique combination of all applicable political districts (Congress, State House, State Senate, state school board, local school board, etc.).
“The main schedule for redistricting is once every 10 years, for both the school districts and the precincts, following the nationwide census to adjust for population shifts,” said C. Painter.
The goal is to create districts with roughly the same number of people in school voting districts and the number of registered voters in precincts, ensuring equal representation, as mandated.
Litigation can force redistricting at any time during the decade if existing lines are found to be unfair.
After receiving recommendations from the county clerk, the county commission, as the legislative body may establish, divide, abolish, or change the boundaries of a voting precinct.
“I would like to thank all of you on the committee for the work you did,” said Marvin Kenison, commission chairman.
“We may have to revisit redistricting in 2030 when the census is completed,” said T. Painter. “Maybe we won’t, depending on growth and where it happens.”
“That is good to have behind us,” said Kenison.
Palmer made the motion to adopt the district and precinct maps as drawn. Painter made the second and all voted in favor. |