Southern Indiana Business Report
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the new state legislative and congressional redistricting maps into law on Oct. 4. The maps were passed by the General Assembly Oct. 1.
“Today I signed HB 1581, completing this once-in-a-decade constitutionally required process. I want to thank both the House and Senate for faithfully following through in an orderly and transparent way,” Gov. Holcomb said. “And, a special thanks to every Hoosier who participated in the process by sharing their local perspective and input.”
As Southern Indiana Business Report noted in an Oct. 1 story, there are some major impacts on the region. The greatest changes will be seen in the Indiana House map.
Indiana House
Greene County
The proposed plan will see all of Greene County in a single district. The portions of Greene County currently in District 62 (Rep. Jeff Ellington, R-Bloomington) — Smith, Jefferson, Highland, Beech Creek, Stockton, Grant, Fairplay, Richland, Center, Stafford, Washington, Cass, Taylor and Jackson townships — will move to District 45 (Rep. Bruce Borders, R-Jasonville) to join Wright Township — the home of Jasonville.
Daviess County
Daviess County will go from being split among three districts under the current map to being split between two districts. Most of the county will not see a change at all. Bogard, Van Buren, Washington, Barr, Veale, Harrison and Reeve townships will remain in District 63 (Rep. Shane Lindauer, R-Jasper). Steele Township, which is currently in District 45 (Rep. Bruce Borders, R-Jasonville), will move into District 63 (Rep. Shane Lindauer, R-Jasper). Elmore Township, which is currently in District 62 (Rep. Jeff Ellington, R-Bloomington), will move to District 45 (Rep. Bruce Borders, R-Jasonville). Madison Township, which is currently split between District 62 (Rep. Jeff Ellington, R-Bloomington) in the north and District 63 (Rep. Shane Lindauer, R-Jasper) in the south, will move into District 45 (Rep. Bruce Borders, R-Jasonville).
Martin County
The proposed move will put all of Martin County into a single district. Perry and Center townships, which are currently split between District 62 (Rep. Jeff Ellington, R-Bloomington) in the north and District 63 (Rep. Shane Lindauer, R-Jasper) in the south, will move, along with Mitchelltree Township, into District 63 (Rep. Shane Lindauer, R-Jasper). The remaining portions of Perry and Center townships, along with all of Halbert, Rutherford and Lost River townships, will stay unchanged in District 63 (Rep. Shane Lindauer, R-Jasper).
Dubois County
Dubois County will remain split between two districts, but there will be some minor changes in which parts of the county are in which district. Boone, Harbison, Madison, Bainbridge and Marion townships will remain in District 63 (Rep. Shane Lindauer, R-Jasper). Jackson, Jefferson and Ferdinand townships will remain in District 74 (Rep. Stephen Bartels, R-Eckerty). Columbia and Hall townships will move from District 63 (Rep. Shane Lindauer, R-Jasper) into District 74 (Rep. Stephen Bartels, R-Eckerty). Patoka and Cass townships will be split. Whereas both townships are currently in District 74 (Rep. Stephen Bartels, R-Eckerty), the new arrangement will see the western portions of both townships move into District 63 (Rep. Shane Lindauer, R-Jasper) while their eastern portions will remain in District 74 (Rep. Stephen Bartels, R-Eckerty).
Lawrence County
Lawrence County will go from being split between two districts to being entirely within one district. Perry, Marshall, Pleasant Run, Indian Creek, Shawswick, Guthrie and Spice Valley townships will remain in District 65 (Chris May, R-Bedford). Marion Township, which is currently split between District 65 (Chris May, R-Bedford) in the north and District 73 (the late Steve Davisson, R-Salem) in the south, will move into District 65 (Chris May, R-Bedford). Bono Township, which is currently in District 73 (the late Steve Davisson, R-Salem), will also move into District 65 (Chris May, R-Bedford).
Orange County
Orange County will remain split between two districts but with some major changes. Northwest, Orangeville, Orleans, Northeast, Paoli and Stampers Creek townships will move from District 73 (the late Steve Davisson, R-Salem) to District 65 (Chris May, R-Bedford). Jackson and Greenfield townships will remain in District 74 (Rep. Stephen Bartels, R-Eckerty). French Lick and Southeast townships will move from District 74 (Rep. Stephen Bartels, R-Eckerty) to District 65 (Chris May, R-Bedford).
Crawford County
Crawford County will see no changes and will remain entirely in District 74 (Rep. Stephen Bartels, R-Eckerty).
Washington County
Washington County will see the most dramatic changes in the region, including going from being entirely within one district to being split among three districts. Brown, Jefferson, Vernon and Madison townships will go from being in District 73 (the late Steve Davisson, R-Salem) to District 65 (Chris May, R-Bedford). Monroe, Gibson, Washington and Franklin townships will move from District 73 (the late Steve Davisson, R-Salem) to District 69 (Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour). Howard, Pierce, Polk, Posey and Jackson townships will move from District 73 (the late Steve Davisson, R-Salem) to District 70 (Rep. Karen Engleman, R-Depauw).
Indiana Senate
Greene County
Greene County will see no changes, remaining entirely within District 39 (Sen. Eric Bassler, R-Shelburn).
Daviess County
Daviess County will not see any changes, remaining entirely within District 39 (Sen. Eric Bassler, R-Shelburn).
Martin County
Martin County will see no changes, remaining entirely within District 39 (Sen. Eric Bassler, R-Shelburn).
Dubois County
Dubois County will go from being split between two districts to being entirely within one district. Boone, Madison, Bainbridge, Patoka and Cass townships will remain in District 48 (Sen. Mark Messmer, R-Jasper). Harbison, Columbia, Marion, Hall, Jackson, Jefferson and Ferdinand townships will move from District 47 (Sen. Erin Houchin, R-Salem) to District 48 (Sen. Mark Messmer, R-Jasper).
Lawrence County
Lawrence County will see no changes, remaining entirely within District 44 (Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford).
Orange County
Orange County will remain entirely within one district but will see that district change. The plan would move the county from District 47 (Sen. Erin Houchin, R-Salem) to District 44 (Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford).
Crawford County
Crawford County will remain in a single district but will see that district change. The plan will move the county from District 47 (Sen. Erin Houchin, R-Salem) to District 48 (Sen. Mark Messmer, R-Jasper).
Washington County
Washington County will not see any changes, remaining entirely within District 47 (Sen. Erin Houchin, R-Salem).
Congressional changes
The only impact of the congressional map change for the region will be the move of Orange and Crawford counties from the Ninth District (Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, R-Jeffersonville) into the Eighth District (Rep. Larry Buschon, R-Newburgh). Under the map now in use, western portions of Crawford County are already in the Eighth District. The change will see the entire county move there. Greene, Daviess, Martin and Dubois counties will remain in the Eighth District. Lawrence and Washington counties will remain in the Ninth District.
Other highlights
The Indiana House map increases the number of counties that are wholly contained within one House district from 26 to 32. There are 22 fewer township splits where a single township is represented by multiple House districts. The House map includes a less than 1% deviation from the ideal population of 67,855 for each district.
The Senate map increases the number of whole counties contained in one Senate district from 49 to 65, keeps 96% of all townships whole and keeps 92% of all cities and towns whole.
The congressional map keeps 84 of Indiana’s 92 counties whole, and includes a near equal deviation, one or fewer persons, from the ideal population of 753,948.
More detailed maps and further information on redistricting can be found here.