Johnston County Commissioners Adopt New Residency District Map

JOHNSTON COUNTY – For the first time in 30 years, Johnston County Commissioners have adopted new district lines.

There are seven Commissioners, who are each elected from seven residency districts. Residency districts mean that each Commissioner must reside in his or her district, but all voters in the County are able to vote for all seven seats on the Board.

Earlier this year, the General Assembly passed a local bill allowing the Johnston County Board of Commissioners to redistrict their residency districts. Population in the districts has changed dramatically over the years because to growth.

Three proposed maps were released to the public in September and on Monday the board voted unanimously to go with Map One, which better realigns the population across the seven districts, which keeping natural boundaries and physical features like roads and waterways, as much as possible.

Click Here For A High Resolution PDF Map

The redistricting had to be completed in October to meet a deadline with the County Board of Elections. Candidate filing for the 2024 elections begins on Monday, December 4, 2023.

In a motion by Commissioner Fred Smith, the board unanimously approved Map One. After the vote, Chairman Butch Lawter stated, “Three weeks ago I didn’t know if we could get four votes on anything, but I think the diligence of the board to work and think and receive the comments and information from the public, even as late as this morning, kind of factored into the decision. And I do want to make sure we thank those folks who did take the time to participate and attend the meeting in this room and for being a part of the process.”

Commissioner Tony Braswell said, “Mr. Chairman, I echo that. We work together. We came up with a solution. Everybody has a win-win and we move on down the road. And I appreciate that.”

Four county commission seats are up for election in 2024, including seats held by Fred Smith, Ted Godwin, April Stephens and Tony Braswell.