In Rapp redistricting, Jackson District grows as Amissville population rises

At their monthly meeting on Monday, the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors completed the 2020 census redistricting process for local boundaries, adjusting the Wakefield and Jackson voting districts.

The body received recommendations from the Rappahannock Rapidan Regional Commission (RRRC) and was deciding between two redistricting

options. Results from the 2020 census showed that Wake eld had 48 citizens over the permissible range for voting districts, with 1,597 people.

Option A, which the Board voted 4-1 to approve, extends the Jackson district into Wake eld, moving 54 residents out of Wake eld and into Jackson. Jackson will still begin at the junction of the Rappahannock River and State Route 647 on the Rappahannock-Fauquier boundary line to Wake eld and will move west on State Route 647 to the point where it will now cross Hickman Run and move southwest to the point where it intersects with State Route 729.

The Wake eld district will remain the largest voting district with 1,543 residents, and the Piedmont district is still the smallest district, with 1,411 residents, despite it covering the most land. The Jackson district will increase from 1,484 residents to 1,538.

Hampton Supervisor Keir Whitson and Stonewall-Hawthorne Supervisor Van Carney both voted in favor of Option A because of a recommendation from the county Registrar of Voters o ce.

“This coming year already promises that we will see a number of changes to election laws. These developments can create confusion even for the most astute voters,” Registrar of Voters Kim McKiernan wrote in an email. “In the interest of creating as little confusion for our voters as possible and a clear, cohesive plan, the Registrar’s O ce favors Option A, although Option B would be comparable to implement.”

Option B would have moved 54 residents from Wake eld into Hampton.

“Among those presented, I think [Options A and B are] least disruptive, and I think provide our voters with minimal change in the sense that you won't see a lot of citizens or as many citizens under the other scenarios receiving notices that they'll be voting somewhere else other than were they've been voting in recent years,” Hampton Supervisor Keir Whitson said at the Feb. 7 meeting.

Piedmont Supervisor Christine Smith voted against Option A, arguing that Amissville in the Jackson district has the most potential for growth over the next several years as its population continues to rise, so it would make sense to expand a di erent district.

“Hampton is kind of surrounded by other districts on both sides and the park, Jackson’s got Culpeper and Fauquier [as neighbors],” Smith said. “I just think that it's much more likely we're going to see an uptick in Jackson District.”

RRRC presented four redistricting options to the Board of Supervisors during their January meeting, and the Board decided last month to limit the options to the two with the least amount of change. The other two options were aimed at trying to best equalize the populations over all ve districts.

The redistricting process requires that voting districts have no more than 10% variance in population. With ve voting districts, each needs to fall within +/- 5% of the average district population of 1,475, which is the Rappahannock County population of 7,373 divided by ve. The range for acceptable district populations based on those numbers would be between 1,401 and 1,549.

“Other areas are likely to pick up population faster than the Piedmont district,” County Administrator Garrey Curry said. “As more and more people move into Chester Gap, Wake eld gets smaller. As more and more people move into the Amissville area proper, Jackson has to get smaller.”

The Board will have to evaluate these numbers again in 10 years during the next census.