Johnson County begins process to create supervisor districts after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signs bill requiring them

IOWA CITY — The Johnson County Board of Supervisors took the first steps Wednesday in a process that will create districts for their representation of the county, as is now required by a bill signed into law last week by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Senate File 75 requires the three Iowa counties that are home to regents university campuses to elect their county supervisors by districts, rather than having members elected at-large. All three counties — Johnson, Black Hawk and Story — currently have Democratic-leaning boards of supervisors and they elect supervisors at-large.

The supervisors sent a letter to the governor last week asking her to veto the bill. They called the bill “targeted interference” that “undermines the foundational principle that all Iowans deserve equal treatment under the law” because it targeted just three counties.

As a result of the new law, all five Johnson County supervisor seats will be up for election in November 2026.

The Johnson County Supervisors on Wednesday said they will form a three-person redistricting commission. It will be comprised of two members appointed by the Board of Supervisors and one member appointed by Johnson County Republicans of Iowa.

The commission will work with county staff to develop a precinct plan that divides the county into five equal-population districts. That plan will be submitted to the state commissioner — the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office — by Oct. 1.

The nonpartisan legislative services agency will draw and publish the representation plan by Jan. 1, 2026.

Supervisors look to make appointments in early May

After the supervisors have appointed members to the redistricting commission, they will no longer have authority over the process.

To serve on the commission, a person must be an eligible voter in Johnson County and county staff has requested that they be available during business hours on weekdays to meet.

Members appointed to the commission by the board do not need to have a specific party affiliation. However, the board has committed to reaching out to the Johnson County Democratic Party to request recommendations for appointments to the commission.

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“If we were all five representatives of the Republican Party, then the Democratic Party in this county would get to appoint somebody. So I think that there is some value in thinking along the lines of somebody who has some tie to Democratic Party in some way,” said Supervisor Rod Sullivan.

In addition to the names recommended by the Johnson County Democratic Party, each supervisor plans to reach out to their networks and bring two suggestions to the board’s May 7 work session.

“I think that we would be suffering much greater heartburn if this committee actually had the authority to draw them out. What we're discussing here is a much more technocratic, ministerial sort of work,” said Jon Green, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “So while this is one of the very rare instances where this board operates in a blatantly political fashion, I also want us to keep in mind the importance of the work that this committee is going to be charged in doing.”

Random draw for district term limits

In order to create staggered terms, some supervisor districts will be assigned two-year terms and others will be assigned four-year terms to serve after the November 2026 election.

County Auditor Julie Persons said she plans to use a random selection process to determine which districts get which terms after the district plan has been approved and published.

After the 2026 election, supervisors will to be elected in staggered four year terms.

“I will come to a meeting so everybody can watch it … because at that point we'll know where the districts are. It'll be all random and available for the public to watch,” Persons said at a Board of Supervisors work session.

Green and Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz’s terms are set to end in 2026. Sullivan and Supervisors Mandi Remington and Lisa Green-Douglass were elected to new terms in November 2024, which means they were set to end in 2028.

Next steps

The Board of Supervisors will formally vote next week on its decision to appoint a three-person redistricting commission. The Board can choose to appoint three, five or seven people to the commission.

The Board plans to discuss potential appointments to the committee on May 7 and formally appoint two people on May 8. The commission must be established by May 15.

Comments: megan.woolard@thegazette.com

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