Pottawatomie County officials held a work session Monday, to discuss how the county will divide population into five districts, now that voters have approved expansion of the board from three to five seats. Two new commissioners will come aboard next year. County Counselor John Watt says the county’s preference is to have that occur in the November 2023 general election. “Because a special election will cost the county and arm and a leg. The state doesn’t help with all of that, it’s a county cost,” he said. According to the 2021 census, Pottawatomie County’s population was just slightly over 25,000 people. With that in mind, state statute says each of the five districts should have roughly 5,000 residents living within it. Watt says there is some leeway to how those numbers get divided.
Source: 1350 KMAN
