THOMASVILLE — The first of a nearly dozen statewide meetings on what shapes up to be one of the most intently watched and debated issues will be held next week.

The first public meeting of the joint state House and Senate reapportionment committee will take place June 29 at 5 p.m. in Cumming, followed by stops in Dalton and Atlanta. There will be 11 meetings in all, with two set for the southern half of Georgia — July 26 at 5 p.m. in Brunswick and July 27 at 5 p.m. in Albany.

Reapportionment and redistricting occur every 10 years, following the national census. Georgia has 56 state Senate seats and 180 state House seats, and 14 U.S. House of Representatives districts. 

But the new count in the state likely means many district lines for both chambers will change, acknowledged state Rep. Darlene Taylor (R-Thomasville), who is the vice chair of the House Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Committee.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” she said. “Most of the growth has not been in the rural parts of Georgia. But they still need representation.”

Even though many parts of south Georgia have grown in population since the last Census, the more expansive growth in metropolitan Atlanta and its outlying areas means the southern half of the state could lose seats in both chambers of the General Assembly.

“As we redistrict, we will have to allocate those districts to where the people are located,” Taylor said. 

By early estimates — the official Census count is not expected to be made available until September — Georgia’s overall population grew by more than one million from the 2010 Census. However, it is not enough for the state to add to its U.S. House seats.

Reapportionment decides how many people will be in each district. Redistricting will draw boundary lines for the state House and Senate and the U.S. House. That means the lines will have an equal amount of people “as close to practicable,” according to federal law.

Georgia’s 14 U.S. House districts are expected to have about 765,136 people for each. State Senate districts will have 191,284 people and each of the state House districts will have about 59,511 people.

Ensuring an equal population across districts is not the only factor lawmakers will address when drawing new lines. They also have to make sure communities of interest are represented, avoiding major changes to existing representation in the legislature and keeping local government jurisdictions whole.

Many critics have charged that Republicans who are in the majority in the General Assembly and on the committees will look for ways to consolidate their margin through redrawn districts. 

Taylor pointed out that the Republicans have been in charge for just one series of redistricting, which took place in 2011, and boundary lines then met with federal approval.

“We did it fairly,” Taylor said. “Our intent is not to gerrymander.”

Taylor said having communities of interest in a district is one of her priorities in redistricting. 

“The most important part to me is the continuity of the character of the districts,” she said. “You don’t want to put a metropolitan area in with a rural one.”

By Georgia’s constitution, redistricting must be completed no later than one year before the next statewide election. That means lawmakers have to get their maps drawn and done by November 8. 

With exact Census data not expected until September, that puts the state lawmakers in a time crunch. Lawmakers are expecting Gov. Brian Kemp to call a special session in October to take up redistricting. 

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.