BENTONVILLE -- The three most overpopulated state House districts in Arkansas are all in Benton County, according to information presented by the state board drafting new legislative boundaries.
The most overpopulated state Senate district is also in Benton County, estimates show.
The state Board of Apportionment will try to draw new legislative districts as close to equal in population as possible, staff said at a public hearing Thursday. That will mean 100 state House districts with about 30,000 residents each. The state's 35 Senate districts will have about 85,000 each.
Three House districts in Benton County grew so much since the last redraw of boundaries, they each have at least 38,000 people now, according to the best estimates provided Thursday. Those are Dists. 90, 91 and 93. Senate District 1, also in Benton County, has an estimated population of 113,508.
The apportionment board's job is to redraw legislative districts every 10 years, using federal census data to ensure each district has roughly the same population. The board consists of the governor, the attorney general and the secretary of state. Betty Dickey, coordinator for the Board of Apportionment and former Arkansas Supreme Court chief justice, presided over Thursday's meeting, one of a series of public hearings around the state to hear resident's requests and to answer questions.
Dustin Seaton of Fayetteville asked the board's staff at the hearing if they would make any allowance for future growth. If the lines are drawn with equal populations, he said, high-growth areas would be overpopulated and, therefore, under-represented again in a few years.
The board will not make districts in high-growth areas smaller now because equal representation after the census is required by the state constitution, replied Shelby Johnson, the state's Geographic Information Officer.