Jefferson County Board approves new district lines

Alex Gault, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·2 min read

Jul. 7—WATERTOWN — The Jefferson County Board of Legislators has officially adopted new district lines, remapping the 15 legislative districts to more equally cover the county's 115,800 residents.

The new map is largely similar to the existing legislative district lines, with shifts made to account for changing population counts. Each district was required to hold about 7,720 people, with a margin of error of 5% in either direction.

The most noticeable population changes were in the city of Watertown, which lost more than 2,000 residents between 2010 and 2020; the town of LeRay, which gained more than 3,000 residents, mostly on Fort Drum; and the town of Watertown, which gained about 1,000 residents. Those communities also saw the most significant changes made to their legislative district lines.

The city of Watertown, historically represented by four roughly-equal districts, is now covered by three relatively similar-sized districts, while a small portion of the northside is covered by a Pamelia and LeRay district. The westside district will now include a portion of the town of Watertown on the other side of Interstate 81 now as well.

LeRay and Fort Drum are now also represented by four districts, which stretch in and around one another to pick up roughly equal portions of the town's population. The village of Black River is completely in District 5, while the hamlets of Felts Mills and Great Bend are in District 7. North of the Black River, District 6 picks up a portion of Fort Drum, alongside tendrils of Districts 4, 8 and 7.

The local law redrawing Jefferson County's 15 legislative districts passed with full support from the assembled legislators on Tuesday, with no comment from the public.

Also Tuesday, the Board of Legislators unanimously voted to approve a resolution requesting the state Legislature in Albany re-address the laws restricting where a convicted, registered sex offender can live or be housed by public agencies. Current state law does not bar registered offenders from living within proximity of a park or many other places where children congregate, and a series of recent issues with sex offenders housed at a West Carthage motel, in close proximity to a nearby park, prompted village, town and county officials to request a change in state laws.