City to review census data for ward population distribution

Published 5:00 pm Thursday, October 6, 2022

The Board of Aldermen approved a proposal submitted by Elliot and Britt Engineers to review the current City of Oxford voting wards and make recommendations if the 2020 census data requires new boundary lines to be drawn, as required by federal law.

The city is required to update the population data for voting wards following a decennial census, like the one held in 2020. The next municipal election is set to be held in June 2025.

The proposal included using 2020 census data to determine the current population of each of the five voting wards. If the population distribution exceeds 10% from the lowest to highest wards, then the district lines will need to be redrawn to be in the acceptable range.

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If the wards must be redrawn, the consultant will attend Board meetings and public meetings during the process and provide documentation to prepare an ordinance establishing new wards.