Montgomery County Council Enacts Legislation to Revise Council District Boundaries as Recommended by the Montgomery County Commission on Redistricting with Limited Changes Based on Community Input

Montgomery County Council Enacts Legislation to Revise Council District Boundaries as Recommended by the Montgomery County Commission on Redistricting with Limited Changes Based on Community Input

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For Immediate Release

Rockville, Md., Dec. 7, 2021—Today the Montgomery County Council voted to enact Bill 41-21, Elections Council Districts – Boundaries, which is the enabling legislation that revises the boundaries of Council districts to create seven districts as required by the Montgomery County Charter that was amended by the voters in the 2020 general election. The vote was 8-1 with Councilmember Friedson opposed.

“I want to express the Council’s appreciation to the members of the Montgomery County Commission on Redistricting for their diligent, well-informed work and their timely recommendations and report to the Council. We also thank all the residents across our community who provided their input on the redistricting map,” said Council President Gabe Albornoz.

Today’s Council vote is consistent with nearly all the recommendations made in the Commission on Redistricting Report with some minor adjustments proposed by our residents to better serve our community. While we couldn’t accommodate every boundary change requested, this new map will serve the County well for the next decade because it recognizes our population growth and better represents our diverse community.”

The map showing the new Council district boundaries can be viewed below. An interactive map will be posted on the Council’s web page tomorrow here.

The Council enacted the recommendations from the Montgomery County Commission on Redistricting Report with amendments that do the following:

• the Kemp Mill community becomes part of District 6 which moves Precincts 13-020 and 13-033 from District 5 to District 6;
• the Northwest Park/Oakview neighborhood becomes part of District 5 with the rest of the Hillandale community which moves Precinct 05-014 from District 4 to District 5;
• the Willows of Potomac/Traville Gardens neighborhood is combined with the rest of this community which places Precinct 04-024 in the same district as Precinct 04-035 in District 3 and moves Precinct 04-011 from District 3 to District 1;
• the Aurora Hills community becomes part of District 2 which moves Precinct 02-006 from District 7 to District 2; and
• the precincts in the Potomac/North Bethesda community just west of I-270 become part of District 1 which moves Precincts 04-032 and 10-011 from District 4 to District 1; and moves two precincts, Precincts 07-016 and 13-039, from District 1 to District 4;
• the Ken-Gar community in Kensington is moved from District 6 to District 4; and
• the Derwood/Redland community becomes part of District 7 which moves Precincts 04-019, 04-034 and 04-036 from District 6 to District 7.

Before 2020, the Charter required that the County be divided into five Council districts. The new requirement for seven districts applies to the 2022 elections, and the Council will consist of eleven members in total in Dec. 2022. Seven district Councilmembers will be elected by registered voters who live in each district and four at-large members will be elected by all voters across the County.

In addition to creating two new Council districts, the Charter requires that each district must be compact in form and composed of adjoining, contiguous territory. The populations of each district also must be substantially equal.

The Commission on Redistricting was charged with presenting a redistricting plan for Council districts and a report explaining their recommendations to the Council. The eleven-member volunteer commission included registered Democrats, Republicans, independents and those who are unaffiliated. Residents can learn more about the work of the Redistricting Commission here.

The Council received a briefing from the Commission on Redistricting and their report on Nov. 9, 2021 and held public hearings on Nov. 16 and Nov. 18. On Nov. 30, the Council met to review the Commission’s proposed map and several proposed changes to the map were reviewed prior to today’s final vote.

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Image of the final map showing the new Council district boundaries.