Redistricting

What is Redistricting?

Every ten years, San Bernardino County uses new census data to redraw its supervisorial district lines to reflect how local populations have changed.  State law requires the county to engage communities in the redistricting process by holding public meetings and doing public outreach, including to non-English-speaking communities.

Every ten years, districts must be redrawn so that each supervisorial district is substantially equal in population. This process, called redistricting, is important in ensuring that each board member represents about the same number of constituents. The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is responsible for drawing supervisorial districts. The Board of Supervisors has adopted an ordinance establishing an Advisory Redistricting Commission that is required to recommend to the Board of Supervisors a minimum of two possible supervisorial district maps.  Redistricting will be based on the 2020 U.S. Census data, which is anticipated to be released to the State on September 30, 2021. For San Bernardino County, the redistricting process must be completed by December 15, 2021.

Board Adopted Supervisorial Map 2021

The Board of Supervisors on December 14 adopted new supervisorial district boundaries that would reunify one long-divided city as well as the San Bernardino mountain communities.

The plan is the product of 19 public meetings, each of which was broadcast live on the internet, held in 14 locations throughout the county.

For many years, Fontana has been divided between at least two supervisorial districts. The plan approved by the Board places all of Fontana into one district and divides only Colton, San Bernardino and Upland. The plan also reunites the Crestline, Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs areas with the Big Bear area. The prior boundaries divide those communities between two districts.

Other notable changes from the prior district boundaries include moving Needles from the First District to the Third District, moving Devore from the Second District to the Third District, and moving more of Upland from the Second District to the Fourth District.

Every 10 years, the County is required to redraw the boundaries of each of the five Board of Supervisors districts to ensure each has essentially the same number of residents, preserves communities of interest such as cities as much as possible, and complies with the Voting Rights Act. The County’s redistricting website offers a wealth of information on the process, including video recordings of each public meeting.

A highlight of this year’s redistricting process was the work done by the county’s first Advisory Redistricting Commission, which the Board of Supervisors created in response to a provision in the voter-approved County Charter. The commission conducted 16 public meetings, three of them in the evening, in 14 locations throughout the county. The commission publicly examined and discussed five proposed Board of Supervisors district maps submitted by the public, in addition to one map created by a commission member, three created at the direction of the commission, and the existing map of districts created in 2011 with the current 2020 Census information. The commission referred three maps for recommendation to the board, including the map that was adopted by the board.

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