Linn redistricting plan finished, again

CEDAR RAPIDS - Linn County is done, again, with its redistricting plan.

Meeting Monday for less than 10 minutes, the county's redistricting commissioners approved a couple of technical changes affecting precinct boundaries in Marion and Robins. After those city councils approve them this week, the proposed new district map will be forwarded to Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz for what county officials hope will be final approval.

Schultz rejected the county's first proposal, submitted in September, because it would have put parts of Cedar Rapids in four supervisors' districts. His staff ruled that would violate a state law requiring cities be divided into the fewest possible districts - three, in Cedar Rapids' case.

That ran counter to the county staff's interpretation, and supervisors first resubmitted their first choice accompanied by a letter explaining their reasoning. Schultz again rejected the map and forwarded a new version that would have been imposed Dec. 1 if the county failed to submit its own plan meeting the fewest-district requirement.

The redistricting commissioners and supervisors then adopted a slightly modified version of Schultz's map.