Redistricting in Texas is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries for state legislative seats, congressional seats, and the state board of education. The redistricting process aims to ensure that different areas have relatively equal political representation on the basis of population.
Redistricting is necessary because the populations of different areas can change, leaving some areas relatively underrepresented and other areas overrepresented. The redistricting process takes place every ten years, corresponding with the U.S. census – the formal federal count of the population – which takes place every ten years.
Depending on population changes among the U.S. states, Texas may gain or lose seats in the Congress every ten years. That means adding or removing U.S. congressional districts from the state, and adjusting the remaining district boundaries accordingly.
On the other hand, the number of state legislative seats does not change during redistricting, but the boundaries of the districts may change to reflect population changes or fresh political considerations.
The Texas Legislature is responsible for redrawing district boundaries, and the redistricting process is considered a political process, not merely a technical mapping exercise.
As it redraws districts, the Legislature is required to follow certain guidelines and precedents established by the state constitution and federal courts. One federal precedent requires districts to be drawn so that their populations are all within about 10% of an ideal district average.
Another requirement, set by the Texas Constitution, requires a county with sufficient population for exactly one district to be formed into a single district. The constitution directs lawmakers not to draw boundaries across county lines when counties can instead by divided into whole legislative districts. In practice, that requirement is sometimes in tension with the federal requirement to keep population levels approximately equal across the state.
The redistricting process begins after the federal government delivers census population data to the Legislature by April 1 of the year following the census. State legislators then review the federal data and begin drawing maps of potentially modified districts. Once the legislators have prepared draft plans, they introduce a bill in the same way as they would introduce any other legislation.
Section 28, Article III of the Texas Constitution requires the Legislature to complete redistricting during its first regular session following publication of the census. If it fails to do so, the task falls to the Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB), a five-member body of state officials including the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House. The LRB has jurisdiction only in the months immediately following that regular session.
Judicial Redistricting
Judicial redistricting follows a different process than legislative redistricting. The judicial districts need not be relatively equal in population, but are drawn on the basis of other considerations, such as court caseloads.
Each district court in Texas has jurisdiction over a definable geographic area. These districts can be changed by the legislature at any time.
However, the constitution also establishes a Judicial Districts Board to redraw the districts every ten years if the legislature fails to do so. Unless the legislature enacts a statewide reapportionment of judicial districts following the census, the board meets by June of the third year following the census to make a statewide reapportionment of the districts.
