Jefferson County officials must redraw the County Commission districts prior to the 2026 elections and that decision will not be affected by an appeal, a federal judge ruled last week.

U.S. District Judge Madeline Haikala , having ruled two weeks ago that the district lines are unfairly drawn based on race, denied Jefferson County officials’ request to delay redrawing the lines until an appeal could be filed.

In her ruling, Haikala said that while redrawing the districts prior to the 2026 elections would be difficult, given the time constraints, it was more harmful to voters to leave in place districts unfairly drawn. Her decision cites a number of opinions from higher courts, all with the same general theme: “[C]ompliance with federal law is [not] an onerous burden.”

“… the plaintiffs

See Full Page