SB348: SB348 Hancock County; Board of County Commissioners; description of the commissioner districts; change

Hancock County elects its Board of County Commissioners from four numbered districts, plus a chairperson elected countywide. This bill amends the 1885 act that created the board, as previously amended in 2013, to redraw the boundaries of Commissioner Districts 1, 2, 3, and 4 based on a new map, referred to as the 'HancockCCSB-2025' plan, that follows 2020 census voting precinct and block lines. The bill defines how the census terms in the map (VTDs and blocks) should be read, and sets rules for any county territory that is accidentally left out of a district or that ends up non-contiguous with its assigned district: that territory goes to the neighboring district with the smallest population. Current commissioners keep serving out their terms under the newly drawn version of their same district number. The changes take effect July 1, 2025.

• Redraws the boundaries of Hancock County's four commissioner districts using a new map based on 2020 census data, called the HancockCCSB-2025 plan.
• Defines census terms like 'VTD' (voting precinct) and individual census blocks so the new district map can be read and applied correctly.
• Sets a rule that any county area left out of all four districts is assigned to the neighboring district with the smallest population.
• Sets a similar rule for any part of a district that ends up geographically disconnected from the rest of that district.
• Keeps current commissioners in office under their same district numbers, now redrawn, until their terms end normally.
• Sets the effective date of the changes as July 1, 2025, and repeals any conflicting laws.

Registered voters and residents of Hancock County, who would be assigned to newly drawn commissioner districts, and the current members of the Hancock County Board of County Commissioners, who continue serving their terms under the redrawn district lines.

Which commissioner district a Hancock County resident lives in determines who represents them on the county commission. Redrawing these lines can shift some residents into a different district and changes the population balance among districts, though it does not remove any sitting commissioner from office.

• Section 1 revises subsections (b) and (c) of Section II of the 1885 Hancock County commissioner act to adopt the new HancockCCSB-2025 district map for Districts 1 through 4.
• Section 1 also defines 'VTD' and how named cities are interpreted using 2020 U.S. Census Bureau boundaries and maps.
• Section 1 provides that any county area excluded from all districts, or any district part left non-contiguous, is assigned to the adjoining district with the least population.
• Section 2 provides that current commissioners continue serving their terms, now representing their district as newly described, and that district numbers 1 through 4 carry over unchanged.
• Section 3 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025.
• Section 4 repeals all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the Act.
• Appendix A sets out the detailed census block and voting precinct assignments that make up each of the four new commissioner districts.

1. 2026-05-11Effective Date 2026-05-11
2. 2026-05-11Act 608
3. 2026-05-11Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2026-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2026-02-17House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2026-02-17House Third Readers (House)
7. 2026-02-17House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2026-02-06House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)

• David Lucas (D, SD-026)Primary sponsor
• Mack Jackson (D, HD-128)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2025

   52 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 4 absent)

   Local Consent Calendar: Senate Vote #291

2. PassedHouse voteFebruary 17, 2026

   163 yea, 1 nay (7 not voting, 4 absent)

   Local Calendar : House Vote #513

• Hancock County government
• county commissioner districts
• redistricting
• local elections