NATCHEZ — Adams County supervisors are awaiting 2020 census data to soon determine whether district lines will need to be redrawn.

According to the US Census Bureau, the population of Adams County increased from 32,297 in April 2010 to 29,538 in April 2020 and the population of Natchez increased from 15,792 to 14,520 with a response rate of 59.6%. .

The Census Bureau also estimates that Adams County’s population may have decreased by 0.4% between April 2020 and July 2021. However, supervisors are still awaiting a full population breakdown by district to determine if redistricting will be necessary. under the law.

The law obliges the county to redistrict if there is more than 10% difference in the electoral population between each of the five districts. Even with a population decline of 2,759 over the past decade, the county may not have to redistrict if the population decline is evenly distributed among districts with less than 10% variance.

Adams County Election Commissioner Larry Gardner said he believed the county didn’t have to redistrict after the 2010 census because “districts were still within that 10 percent range.”

Previous census figures show that Adams County’s population grew from 34,340 in 2000 to 32,297 in 2010.

Asked if he thinks the county might have to redistrict, Gardner said, “It looks like the surface based on the number of registered voters we have. District 2 has the most registered voters and District 3 has the fewest with a large gap between the two. Much of this may be due to the fact that we have had many new homes built in the Beau Pré area.

However, Gardner said the need for redistricting would be determined by the number of people of voting age living in each district and not by the number of people registered to vote, which is the number on which he based his guess.

If the county needs to redraw, officials said they should begin that process soon.

“If we have to recut, we have to deal with it as soon as possible,” supervisor Warren Gaines said during Monday’s meeting.

Supervisors said they would first have to hire a redistricting company to then develop the proposed maps, issue a public notice and hold public hearings before they could approve them. Supervisor Angela Hutchins said they should know by the next board meeting whether a redistricting would be necessary.

On other matters at Monday’s meeting of the Adams County Board of Supervisors, the board unanimously adopted COVID-19 precautions for employees based on updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control. and Prevention which state that those who test positive must self-isolate for a minimum of five days and wear a mask around others for an additional five days.

However, supervisors Ricky Gray have expressed concerns about reducing the isolation period from 10 days to five.

“It seems like every time we turn around, it changes,” Gray said. “We have employees with underlying health conditions and we’re telling people with COVID they can wear a mask and come to work in pairs after five days instead of 10.”

Adams County Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford also advised supervisors that community transmission of COVID-19 is spreading rapidly.

According to CDC data, Adams County currently has a high rate of COVID-19 transmission at the community level with 74 new cases reported in the seven days ending Dec. 29 and a positivity rate of 23.8%.

Bradford said Adams County Vault held free COVID-19 screenings and of 80 people tested, half tested positive for COVID-19.

“Omicron spreads faster than Delta,” he said. “We are trying not to do another mask mandate, but if our numbers continue to grow, I may come back to the board with a mask requirement for county buildings to keep our employees safe. “