The King County Districting Committee today released four alternative plans for redrawing County Council districts. The plans are posted on the Committee website at www.kingcounty.gov.

Each draft plan uses a different approach in order to meet the redistricting requirements in state law and the County Charter. Before beginning work, the Committee held public hearings in Seattle, Kirkland, and Kent to gather community input.

“The Districting Committee is working to ensure that each County resident is fairly represented in King County government,” said Committee Chair Terrence Carroll. “These four plans are alternate approaches to drawing equally populated districts that meet legal requirements and take into consideration the public input we received. The Committee looks forward to a robust community discussion on which alternatives will provide the best representation to the people of King County.”

The Districting Committee will host four public hearings to discuss the plans and gather input:

• Wednesday, June 29, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Shoreline City Hall Council Chambers, 17500 Midvale Ave. N., Shoreline

• Thursday, June 30, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Bellevue City Hall Council Chambers, 450 110th Ave. NE

• Thursday, July 7, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Highline Community College, Building 7, 2400 S. 240th St., Des Moines

• Tuesday, July 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Van Asselt Community Center, 2820 S. Myrtle St., Seattle.

Community members can also provide written testimony on the committee website or by writing to Districting Committee, 516 Third Avenue, Room 1200, Seattle, WA 98104.

Following community input and further study by the Districting Committee, the draft plans may be revised, combined, or one proposal may be adopted as is. A single, final district plan must be approved by the Committee by Jan. 15, 2012.

By law, Council district boundaries must be redrawn after each U.S. Census to make each district as nearly equal in population as possible. The County Charter places sole responsibility for redistricting with the independent, citizen Districting Committee.

The new district boundaries must be compact, contiguous, and composed of economic and geographic units. To the extent feasible, the districts must correspond with the boundaries of existing municipalities, election precincts, census tracts, recognized natural boundaries and preserve communities of related and mutual interest. Population data may not be used for purposes of favoring or disfavoring any racial group or political party.