The Harris County Commissioners Court is in the process of remapping the county’s four precincts. Similar to the process for redistricting legislative regions, the county adjusts the borders of its precincts each decade after the results of the Census are released in order to balance populations within the districts.

Through the course of two debates on Oct. 21 and 26, the redistricting debate got heated as Democratic commissioners Rodney Ellis of Precinct One and Adrian Garcia of Precinct Two were accused of gerrymandering their proposed maps to bring about a Democratic majority on the court by Republican commissioners Tom Ramsey of Precinct Three and Jack Cagle of Precinct Four.

Despite two meetings lasting well over four hours with public input from community members concerned about fair representation on the commissioners court, no decision on maps was ultimately made and the issue was tabled until a special meeting scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 28 when county staff will bring forward additional precinct map options for commissioners to debate and possibly vote upon.