County to seek exemption for redistricting; District 4 Commissioner Fox not running

By Reed Anfinson
Swift County Monitor-News
To avoid having to redraw county commission districts lines, Swift County may need to seek an exemption from the Secretary of State’s office.
While the simplest solution to have the five county commission districts all have populations within the parameters set by law would have been annexation of a small parcel of land on its northeast corner by the City of Benson, that option hasn’t worked out.
Swift County Administrator Kelsey Baker, Auditor Kim Saterbak and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Coordinator Chelsea Bagent met with landowner Tim Mooberry about his property being annexed into the City of Benson, Baker told commissioners at their Dec. 21 meeting. However, she said, there has been little movement.
“It is really in the city’s court if it wants to acquire part of that township,” Baker said.
Benson City Manager Rob Wolfington said Monday that several attempts have been made to contact Mooberry with no response.
For the city to consideration annexation, a petition would have to be submitted requesting the land become part of Benson, Wolfington said. Further, Benson doesn’t annex land without being a mutually agreed to by the township, he said.
Based on the 2020 Census, the ideal Swift County commission district would have 1,968 residents.  That ideal district size is hard to reach because of how districts are drawn. As a result, state law provides some leeway.
 
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