Already reshuffled by a November election that will see three of its six magistrate seats held by newcomers, Warren Fiscal Court is in for more changes in a reapportionment process that will begin in the new year.

Normally conducted in the year following a decennial U.S. census, reapportionment of the county’s six magisterial districts to achieve close-to-equal representation was postponed because census results were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Similar to the state-level redistricting of House and Senate seats done by the Kentucky General Assembly last year, reapportionment will remake how district lines are drawn for county magistrate and constable races.

In an area as fast-growing as Warren County, coming up with magisterial districts that don’t deviate in population by more than the required 5-to-10% can be difficult.

“People may be confused because redistricting (of state General Assembly seats) and reapportionment normally happen at the same time,” said Kari Kunkel, a deputy clerk in the Warren County Clerk’s office. “I was very glad that it was pushed back. It would’ve been a challenge to do it this year.”

The challenge, Kunkel explained, stems from the way the county is growing. Warren County as a whole added 20,762 residents from 2010 to 2020, but that growth wasn’t evenly distributed.

“The Rich Pond and Alvaton areas have had a lot of growth, and other parts of the county haven’t,” Kunkel said.

As a result, the sixth magisterial district that takes in much of the southern end of the county grew from 19,113 residents in 2010 to 25,474 after the 2020 census numbers were compiled.

By contrast, the second district that represents more of an inner-city area is at 20,293 residents after the most recent census, meaning it is fully 25% lower than the sixth district.

The other four districts range in size from 21,671 (third) to 22,750 (fourth), but nearly all will need some tweaking to get near the 22,426 figure that Kunkel said would mean equal representation for all six.

Reapportionment, Kunkel points out, isn’t as simple as shrinking the footprint of the densely populated districts and enlarging the less populous ones. Factors such as where magistrates and constables live and where state House and Senate lines are drawn come into play.

“You have to keep magistrates and constables in their districts,” she said. “Warren County now has three state Senate districts, and we can’t cross those lines when we apportion.”

A complicated process, reapportionment will be worked out over several months, Kunkel said.

It will start with appointment by fiscal court of three reapportionment commissioners by May 31. The three must be at least 21 years old and live in three separate magisterial districts.

Once appointed, the three commissioners have 60 days to come up with district boundary lines and submit their plan to the county clerk and fiscal court.

The recommendation from the commissioners could be a redrawing of the current six districts, or it could be a proposal for reducing the number of districts to as low as three or increasing to as many as eight.

After receiving the recommendation from the three commissioners, fiscal court will have 60 days to consider it and then adopt or amend it.

Kunkel said the process should be completed by the end of next September. The changes will apply to candidates for magistrate and constable seats in the 2026 election.

Changes in the makeup of fiscal court will come much sooner. Doug Gorman will take office in January as county judge-executive, replacing Mike Buchanon, and fully half of the magistrate seats will be held by newcomers.

Scott Lasley is the newly elected first district magistrate, taking the seat previously held by Gorman. Rick Williams takes the third district spot that opened up when Tony Payne decided not to run.

A new face is also coming out of the fifth district, where Eric Aldridge defeated incumbent Mark Young to win the seat. Magistrates Ron Cummings (sixth district), Tom Lawrence (second district) and Rex McWhorter (fourth district) were all re-elected.