FERRIDAY &045;&045; Concordia Parish towns that have not redrawn their council district lines in decades are now taking steps to do so &045;&045; or see if the process is necessary in the first place.

In a special meeting held Thursday, the Ferriday Town Council introduced an ordinance to redraw its five districts to reflect changes in its population.

The council is set to adopt the ordinance &045;&045; and a plan to be sent to the U.S. Justice Department for approval &045;&045; at its Dec. 9 regular meeting.

No discussion preceded Thursday’s action.

But in a council meeting held last week, consultant Oliver Schultz said the Justice Department does not have a record of when Ferriday last redrew its district lines, and it’s possible the last time it was done was in the 1970s.

As a result, the population of each district had shifted to the point that, in the case of District D, one district contained a full one-third of the town’s population.

Schultz has drawn up a few alternative maps for Ferriday officials to review, but they’re all similar in one way &045;&045; another majority black district will be created.

&uot;That’s the case no matter which way you go,&uot; Schultz said.

Redistricting is usually done every 10 years, after the release of each Census, due to changes in population numbers and distribution, under state statute.

But Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said it has probably been more than 20 years since Vidalia last went through the redistricting process.

&uot;The Justice Department usually sends (a town) a notice when it has to be done,&uot; he said.

Copeland said he has asked Schultz, who serves as redistricting consultant for Concordia Parish and most of its public bodies, to explore whether Vidalia needs to redraw its districts.

In any case, &uot;it may not have to be done&uot; because Vidalia’s population has not shifted that during that time, Copeland said.

But Schultz said Thursday he has discovered that Vidalia’s District 2, now represented by Alderman Vernon Stevens, is underrepresented by 15 percent.

&uot;He’s supposed to have 909 people, ideally, but he only has 771,&uot; Schultz said.

Under federal guidelines, each district is supposed to have about the same number of people as every other district, although a variance of plus or minus 5 percent is allowed.

Vidalia’s District 1 in underrepresented by 5.39 percent. &uot;That’s pretty close&uot; to the allowed variance, Schultz said. District 3 &045;&045; from which Vidalia’s other three board members are elected &045;&045; is overrepresented by 6.78 percent.

Schultz said he will be glad to meet with the Vidalia Board of Aldermen to go over potential district configurations.

Due to the distribution of minority voters in Vidalia, &uot;there are many different ways you can go&uot; when drawing the lines, Schultz said. &uot;I just need some direction from the board.&uot;