Primary Department: County Administration
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Diana Ramirez, County Administrator
Secondary Department: Tax Assessor-Collector
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: Annette Ramirez, Tax Assessor-Collector
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Policy
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request to consider and adopt an Order to provide required notices to establish a hearing date of May 8, 2025 to consider and adopt boundary revisions to Harris County Election Precinct Nos. 0049, 0126, 0149, 0200, 0209, 0331, 0420, 0624, 0630, 0688, 0712, 0747, 0901, 0923, 0934, 0970, 0991, and 1170 to ensure compliance with Texas Election Code § 42.006.
end
Background and Discussion:
Texas Election Code Chapter 42 requires that, “during March or April of each odd-numbered year, each Commissioners Court shall determine whether the county election precincts comply with Sections 42.005, 42.006, and 42.007”, which describe the jurisdictional and population requirements for county election precincts. The Code states that “before May 1st of the year in which the determination is made, Commissioners Court shall order the boundary changes necessary for compliance.” (Sec. 42.031)
Per the Code, election precincts are required to be contiguous, with a population between 100 - 5,000 registered voters; they must be contained entirely within one each of a County Commissioner precinct, a Justice precinct, a Congressional district, a State Representative district, a State Senatorial district, and a State Board of Education district; and election precincts must be entirely contained within either incorporated or unincorporated territory, but not both, among other requirements.
Harris County bi-annually completes this process of “re-precincting” to ensure all election precincts comply with the above requirements, with the last re-precincting taking place in 2023. Re-precincting is distinct from redistricting in that the boundaries for elected officials (and thus their constituencies) remain the same. Only election precinct boundaries are adjusted, so there are no changes for any voters’ ballots in terms of the contests in which they vote. Due to Harris County’s countywide voting, there is also no change to where any voter might choose to vote.
As of March 2025, Harris County has 1,109 election precincts that include registered voters (with 1,172 in total). Of these, since 2023, 16 election precincts had grown to include a population of registered voters above 5,000, and 33 election precincts’ populations of registered voters were more than zero and less than 100. However, amongst the 33 election precincts with registered voter populations of less than 100, only one had boundaries that could be adjusted and still remain in compliance with 42.005 (keeping the precinct entirely within one each of the jurisdictions listed above). Per the Code, if the application of 42.006 (population requirements) conflicts with the application of 42.005 (single jurisdictions), 42.005 prevails. The one precinct that could be adjusted in compliance with 42.005 is proposed to be combined with an adjacent precinct.
The Office of County Administration therefore proposes boundary adjustments to 18 election precincts in total (approximately 1.6% of all election precincts with registered voters) to comply with Texas Election Code 42.006. All election precincts are already in compliance with 42.005 and 42.007, so no changes are proposed based on the criteria therein.
To draft the proposed boundary adjustments, the Office of County Administration partnered with the Tax Assessor Collector’s Office (which provided the required voter registration population data), the County Clerk’s Office (which provided the required election precinct contacts for formal notices), the County Attorney’s Office (which provided legal review), Universal Services (which provided technology support), and Commissioners Court Offices (which advised on the proposed changes).
In addition to the provisions of 42.005, the Office of County Administration also reviewed boundaries for Harris County Constable Precincts and Houston City Council Districts, and none of the proposed boundary adjustments would split an election precinct between either of those types of jurisdictions.
Notices for the Public Notice of Proposed Changes have been distributed to the Precinct Chair and Presiding Judge for each affected election precinct, and to the countywide Party Chairs.
Per the Election Code’s requirements, an informational website describing the re-precincting project, requirements, and boundary adjustment proposals was created through a collaboration of the Office of County Administration and Universal Services and can be viewed at: <https://oca.harriscountytx.gov/2025-Re-Precincting>. A public notice will be posted in a local newspaper, with both website and newspaper notices remaining in place for no less than three weeks following the adoption of the proposed changes.
Expected Impact:
Re-precincting takes place through two Commissioners Court items: a Public Notice of Proposed Changes and set a date for a public hearing (this item), and a Public Hearing and request for the Adoption of Proposed Changes, which will appear on the Commissioners Court Agenda for May 8, 2025. Adopting the proposed revisions to the 18 election precincts will ensure compliance with state statute.
The cost associated with re-precincting includes: the fees to publish public notices in a newspaper, the cost of delivering the certified letters of notice to the Precinct Chair and Presiding Judge for each impacted election precinct and to the countywide Party Chairs (an estimate is noted in the Fiscal and Personnel Summary below) as well as County staff time and labor (not included in the estimate).
The Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office will incorporate the adopted changes in their voter registration systems and the County Clerk’s Office will adjust their elections operations in keeping with the adjusted boundaries of the election precincts, and will provide the updated map to the Texas Secretary of State.
While election precinct boundaries are adjusted, the boundaries of elected officials’ jurisdictions do not change. Therefore, there is no change to any voter’s ballots in terms of which election contests they vote in.
If approved by Commissioners Court, the new election precinct boundaries will go into effect January 1, 2026.
Alternative Options:
If Commissioners Court chooses not to revise election precinct boundaries, the 18 indicated election precincts will remain out of compliance with state statute in terms of population of registered voters.
County Strategic Plan Goal: N/A
County Strategic Plan Objective: N/A
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): N/A
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): N/A
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): N/A
Health Initiative (Goal 4): N/A
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): N/A
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): N/A
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
While re-precincting is not contemplated within the County Strategic Plan’s Objectives and Goals, this item aligns with the County’s Guiding Principles of embracing change and serving people first, in that it seeks to adapt our election precincts to meet our changing population, and ensures that our constituents’ election precincts are in compliance with state law.
Re-precincting is statutorily required by Texas Election Code § 42.006.
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
09/19/2023 |
228 |
Adoption of proposed changes for 2023 Re-Precincting |
|
09/12/2023 |
3 |
Public notice for 2023 Re-Precincting |
Location:
Address (if applicable): N/A
Precinct(s): Countywide
|
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
|
Service Name |
|
|
|
|
Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
Existing Budget |
|
|
|
|
|
1000 - General Fund |
$ |
$1,300.00 |
$1,300.00 |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Existing Budget |
$ |
$1,300.00 |
$1,300.00 |
$ |
|
Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Funding Sources |
$ |
$1,300.00 |
$1,300.00 |
$ |
|
Grants - Proposed Budget (For Grants Items only) |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
No. of Grant Years |
|
Local Match Source - Existing Budget: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total) |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
|
|
Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Court Date: 4/10/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): 1/1/2026
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department:
Diana Ramirez, County Administrator
Traci Buttram, Manager of Operations, Office of County Administration
Neal Sarkar, Special Assistant County Attorney, County Attorney’s Office
Attachments (if applicable):
Powerpoint presentation to Commissioners Court on proposed changes
Maps of proposed boundary revisions