Henrico’s 5 magisterial districts will have new proposed boundaries soon
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Henrico’s five magisterial districts will have new proposed boundaries in less than two months, as part of the county’s ongoing reapportionment process.
The effort is required every decade by the Virginia constitution, in order to ensure an even distribution of citizens in each district following the release of new U.S. Census data. (Initial data from the 2020 Census was released this summer.)
Henrico’s population grew by more than 27,000 people from 2010 to 2020 – to a total of 334,389 – according to the new Census, with most of that growth occurring in the Three Chopt and Brookland districts in the northwestern portion of the county. The county remained the sixth-largest in Virginia and grew at a rate (8%) that exceeded that of two of the top-3 localities (Fairfax County, 6%, and Virginia Beach, 5%).
Now, planning officials are working to determine how best to shift the borders of each district in order to even their populations without significantly altering their shapes or changing their demographic makeups.
The Three Chopt District stands to lose the most residents, as it did a decade ago; it’s more than 8,700 people over the ideal population of 66,878 (obtained by dividing the county’s current population by five).
But the two districts that must gain the most residents – Varina (nearly 4,500) and Fairfield (nearly 4,400) – don’t touch Three Chopt.
“As those districts are not adjacent to each other, we can’t simply shift [the population] between them, which means the other districts will be impacted by this change,” Henrico Planning Director Joe Emerson told the board of supervisors Oct. 12, prior to its first public hearing about the reapportionment process.
Because the Varina District – Henrico’s easternmost district – only borders Fairfield, its boundaries must extend west into that district to encompass more residents. The western boundary of Fairfield then must do the same thing, extending farther west into the neighboring Brookland District for the same reason. The same type of process took place a decade ago.
“[Y]ou can see it’s a domino effect as you come across [the county],” Emerson said.
Each district must be within at least 5% of the ideal population, Emerson told supervisors, and the overall deviation cannot exceed 10%. Officials also will follow a number of other guidelines that, among others, aim to:
• keep districts compact, contiguous and relatively in their existing shapes;
• avoid splitting neighborhoods or communities of note;
• avoid diluting the minority vote.
Only two people spoke at the board’s Oct. 12 public hearing – one (Monica Hutchinson) to urge county officials to keep ensure equitable districts for Blacks and minorities) and the other (Frank Callahan) to inquire about the accuracy of the 2020 Census numbers, given that the process took place during the pandemic.
County officials will host two public information sessions about reapportionment later this month (Oct. 25 at the Eastern Henrico Recreation Center and Oct. 27 at the Western Government Center, both at 6 p.m.) to receive additional comments from citizens) and two more public hearings (Nov. 30 and Dec. 14, both at 7 p.m.) before voting Dec. 14 to adopt a proposal. In between (on Nov. 9), they'll introduce ordinances to enact the proposal.
“I hope our residents will stay engaged during this process and provide comments along the way,” Board Chair and Brookland District Supervisor Dan Schmitt said.
On Dec. 16, the county will submit its proposal to the Virginia Attorney General’s Office for preclearance, in order to comply with the Virginia Voting Rights Act passed earlier this year. That act mimics, at the state level, the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, which for decades required localities in 16 southern states to submit their reapportionment plans to the U.S. Department of Justice for preclearance, as a way to ensure the proposals were not discriminatory (given a history of discriminatory actions in those states).
The U.S. Supreme Court ended that federal requirement for Virginia and other states in 2013, determining that it was no longer necessary.
Approval from the attorney general – or indication that there is an objection to the proposal – will come by Feb. 22, and subsequently the proposal would take effect.
To learn more about the process, visit http://www.henrico.us/reapp2021. To submit comments or questions, email Seth Humphreys at hum02@henrico.us or call (804) 501-4427.
