Following lawsuit, court approves new Beltrami County district map
May 2—BEMIDJI — Following a lawsuit in 2022 and a court order in 2023, commissioner districts for
Beltrami County
have been redrawn by an independent commission and approved by a Minnesota judge.
The lawsuit was originally
filed in May 2022 by former county commissioner Jim Lucachick
and 30 others just weeks after the county had
finalized its redistricted maps in a 3-2 vote,
a decision that Lucachick and District 1 Commissioner Craig Gaasvig opposed.
The map the board originally approved had the highest variance in population between the seven options presented, though it was still within the 10% required by law.
While not required to select the map with the lowest population variance, the court did find that the county was required to justify its decision by explicitly stating statutory deficiencies present in the other maps with lower variances, which it did not do.
In October 2023, Ninth Judicial District Judge Christopher Strandlie issued
a summary judgment
that ordered the districts to be redrawn by an independent commission, which recently finished its work and selected a map that was then approved by the court.
With the new districts, all five commissioners will be up for election in 2024. To stagger future elections, Districts 1 and 3 will run for two-year terms while Districts 2, 4 and 5 will run for four-year terms.
In the new map, District 1 will have a population of 9,274; District 2 will have 9,294; District 3 will have 9,189; District 4 will have 9,258; and District 5 will have 9,213.
The townships and cities included in each district can be found below.
District 1
* Bemidji City Ward 5
* Birch Township
* Brook Lake Unorganized No. 3
* Frohn Township
* Hagali Township
* Moose Lake Township
* Port Hope Township
* Sugar Bush Township
* Taylor Township
* Ten Lake Township
* Tenstrike City
* Turtle River City
* Turtle River Township
District 2
* Bemidji City Ward 1
* Bemidji City Ward 2
* Bemidji City Ward 4
District 3
* Bemidji Township
* Buzzle Township
* Eckles Township
* Grant Valley Township
* Jones Township
* Lammers Township
* Maple Ridge Township
* Roosevelt Township
* Solway City
* Wilton City
District 4
* Alaska Township
* Battle Township
* Benville Township
* Blackduck City
* Cormant Township
* Funkley City
* Hamre Township
* Hornet Township
* Kelliher City
* Kelliher Township
* Langor Township
* Lee Township
* Little Rock
* Minnie Township
* North Beltrami Unorganized No. 1
* O'Brien Township
* Ponemah
* Quiring Township
* Red Lake
* Redby
* Shooks Township
* Shotley Township
* Spruce Grove Township
* Steenerson Township
* Summit Township
* Upper Red Lake Unorganized No. 2
* Waskish Township
* Woodrow Township
District 5
* Bemidji City Ward 3
* Durand Township
* Liberty Township
* Nebish Township
* Northern Township
* Turtle Lake Township
