January 25, 2021
By News Director Jared Atha
State Rep. Todd Russ of Cordell encouraged anyone in House District 55 to voice their local preferences on the upcoming legislative and congressional redistricting process to the House Redistricting Committee.
In a press release from his office, Russ said that he has met with House Redistricting staff to discuss estimates of population shifts within the district. When all 101 House districts boundaries are redrawn in this process, population shifts within the state of Oklahoma will drive the creation of the new lines, which can result in a district being redrawn to split certain communities or move them into other house districts.
For instance, Elk City is represented by both House District 55 and 57.
By law, the Legislature must redraw its legislative and congressional district boundaries to reflect changes in population every ten years following the Census.
The House Redistricting Office is still awaiting official data from the 2020 U.S. Census. The legal deadline for receipt is April 1st, however it’s possible the U.S. Census Bureau will not be able to meet that deadline due to the pandemic and other factors. Russ said right now, estimate shows District 55 is off by about 2,255 residents from meeting the target goal of having 38,939 residents.
District 55 currently encompasses Roger Mills, Washita, and parts of Beckham, Greer, and Kiowa counties. Municipalities in the district include Bessie, Burns Flat, Canute, Carter, Cheyenne, Clinton, Colony, Corn, Dill City, Elk City, Erick, Foss, Hammon Hobart, Lone Wolf, Cordell, Reydon, Rocky, Sayre, Sentinel, Strong City, Sweetwater, Texola and Willow.
The Oklahoma House of Representatives Redistricting Committee and its eight regional subcommittees held a series of town halls throughout the state in December and January to encourage public input in the redistricting process.
The last scheduled meeting will be held virtually tonight (Monday) at 6:00 p.m.
