The Allen Parish Police Jury approved a new redistricting plan Monday that expands the panel to a new 8-member board by creating a new District 4 in the Reeves area.

The Allen Parish School Board is expected to consider a similar plan next week.

Police jurors voted unanimously to approve the plan which increases the jury’s makeup from seven to eight members following public hearings held in February and March.

Police Jury President Tony Hebert said the new 8-member plan was the one most favored among police jurors and constituents because it allows communities to have better representation.

District 4 Police Juror Creig Vizena said the plan will help put communities back together and provide additional representation.

“I think it does a good job of putting our communities back together,” he said. “Some of our communities have been stretched out.”

He said the plan is not perfect, but will allow for one extra police juror and one extra school board member which will give the Reeves area better representation.

Reeves, which is currently in District 7, will be in a new District 4.

The Oakdale area will be in District 1,2 and 3 while the Kinder area will be split between District 6 and 7.

A separate plan retaining the Police Jury’s current seven-member districts was considered, but not approved.

“I think this plan helps us get each police jury in closer contact with the community so that they don’t have to reach across the parish to reach their constituents,” District 6 Police Juror Allen Courville.

Allen Parish School Board Superintendent and School Board President Kevin Tyler said the School Board was waiting to see what direction the Police Jury took on redistricting before taking  action on their own plan.

“It looks good from our perspective right now,” Tyler said.

The School Board is expected to address its new redistricting plan at its April 11 meeting.

The approved plan was among two plans created by demographer Mike Hefner of Geographic Planning and Demographic Services to meet shifts in the parish’s population based on U.S. Census data. According to the census data, the parish’s population decreased by nearly 4,200 people in the last 10 years.

The plan as approved complies with all the state and federal voting regulations, according to Parish Administrator Jacob Dillehay.

The Police Jury will hold a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. May 2 to adopt an ordinance for establishing the new voting precincts. Voting precinct numbers will change for some voters, but not locations  according to Dillehay,

The new redistricting plan will go into effect for the November 2023 Police Jury elections.