Newly Drawn Beltrami County Districts Prompt Elections This Fall

Commissioner District maps for Beltrami County from 2022 (left) and the newly accepted 2024 redistricting (right)

Elections are being held this fall for newly drawn districts in Beltrami County, with the city of Blackduck, two Bemidji wards, and several townships moving from one district to another.

As we first told you last Friday, a Ninth Judicial District judge has accepted a new redistricting plan from Beltrami County. Last October, a judge ruled in favor of former county commissioner Jim Lucachick and 30 other plaintiffs, who sued the county about the way the Board of Commissioners selected its redistricting plan in April 2022.

Judge Christopher J. Strandlie ruled the Board did not follow state statutes regarding minimizing the population shift between districts and ordered a commission of five people to formulate and certify a new redistricting plan for Beltrami County. On March 14, that commission voted to approve that plan, and last Thursday it was approved by the court.

Beltrami County Auditor-Treasurer JoDee Treat, who was ordered by the court to implement the plan, tells Lakeland News that it is now official and will include elections next fall in all five newly drawn districts. Wards and townships changing from one district to another include:

• Bemidji City Ward 2 – from 5 to 2
• Bemidji City Ward 5 – from 2 to 1
• City of Blackduck – from 1 to 4
• Durand Township – from 4 to 5
• Hines Township – from 1 to 4
• Liberty Township – from 3 to 5
• Maple Ridge Township – from 4 to 3
• Nebish Township – from 4 to 5
• Roosevelet Township – from 4 to 3
• Summit Township – from 1 to 4
• Turtle Lake Township – from 1 to 5

Candidates can begin filing on May 21, and the elections will take place on Nov. 5. The elections for Districts 1 and 3 will be for two-year terms, while elections for Districts 2, 4, and 5 will be for four-year terms.

The county will also be posting the new district maps on their website soon, and the Minnesota Secretary of State website will reflect the new districts sometime in the future as well.