The overview
At a July 16 meeting, Fulshear City Council directed city staff to engage consultant Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta LLP to begin redistricting ahead of the 2025 election cycle.
“The city’s rapid population growth has not been distributed equally across the city, resulting in some single-member districts having a greater population than others,” City Attorney Byron Brown said in an email. “Therefore, redistricting is being considered to distribute the population among the districts as equally as practicable.”
Council previously discussed redistricting at a Feb. 20 meeting and directed staff to come back with additional information. The city was previously redistricted following the release of the 2020 U.S. Census, interim City Manager Zach Goodlander said at the meeting.
By the numbers
Fulshear is split into five district council seats with two additional at-large council representatives, according to the city’s website.
As the city’s population has grown, the number of people living within Fulshear City Council districts have become uneven, with districts 1 and 4 having more residents, and districts 2, 3 and 5 stagnating, Goodlander said. Additionally, District 4 is expected to be built out by next year, he said.
The process
City staff will need to determine its population by census blocks and distribute it into five equal single-member districts, which are within 10% or less variance, Brown said.
Additionally, Texas Local Government Code states the entire governing body, including the mayor, will need to be re-elected in a special election after each realignment, Brown said. Following the election, the city must determine how it will fairly stagger the seat terms, he said.
Looking ahead
It’s not yet clear whether the redistricting will be complete ahead of the May or November 2025 elections, Brown said.
Following the 2025 redistricting, the city will be required to redistrict again after the 2030 U.S. Census data comes out in 2031. Although, council is able to revisit redistricting ahead of the next census should they deem it necessary.
