By BRAD GASKINS / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – Shelby County will hold a public hearing July 18 to discuss the proposed redistricting of the county’s nine county commission districts.

The public hearing is from 5 to 9 p.m., with the same presentation scheduled for 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

The proposed new districts were presented to county commissioners July 11 during a work session.

Redistricting is done by aggregating census blocks containing demographic information such as total population, race, voting age and Hispanic origin, which was provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, according to the Shelby County Department of Development Services.

Using Department of Justice criteria, the aggregation attempts to create nine county commission districts with ideal populations. Ideal population is defined as the total county population divided by nine.

With a population of 195,085, the ideal district population for each of the nine districts would be 21,678.