Opinion ID: 1171467
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Montezuma County

Text: The Bipartisan Committee to Keep Montezuma County Whole asserts that the Final Plan unnecessarily divides Montezuma County into two house districts, contrary to article V, section 47(2), and splits communities of interest, in violation of article V, section 47(3). The alternate plan for rural counties, including Montezuma County, that the objectors have submitted is called the Shaw/Whole Rural County Plan. Under this plan, which does not address reapportionment in the Front Range Metropolitan Corridor, the largest deviation in population that is created is 3.73%. The objectors present mathematical verification that it would be theoretically possible to reapportion the Front Range districts so that the largest population deviation from the ideal district would be -0.58%, thus preserving the 5% constitutional deviation cap of article V, section 46. As the Commission has pointed out, however, adoption of the Shaw/Whole Rural County Plan would require state-wide reapportionment, an unacceptably large ripple effect. Although not dispositive of the objection now before the court, we note that Montezuma was split into two house districts in the 1982 plan that we ultimately approved. See In re Reapportionment I, 647 P.2d at 195. The Commission also states that its Voting Rights Act concerns in drawing the boundaries of District 60 had a profound influence on the plan for the Western slope, and that once District 60 was fixed a split of Montezuma County was inevitable. La Plata and Archuleta Counties have a total population of 37,629. The population of Montezuma County is 18,672. These three counties thus have a combined total population of 56,301, approximately ten percent higher than the population of the ideal house district. The Commission contends that if it created a house district comprising La Plata and Montezuma Counties, Archuleta County would have to be combined with Hinsdale and other counties to the north, which would impact the population balances of House Districts 58 and 61. The Montezuma County objectors have not presented an acceptable alternate plan which disproves the Commission's assertions. We find that the Montezuma County split does not offend article V, section 47.