Jackson Free Press

Supervisors in Wilkinson County hired D.L. Johnson Consultants in January 2011 to head the county's redistricting. To date, Johnson has not turned in any proposals to the U.S. Department of Justice for the county.

The board approved one of Johnson's maps May 5 by a 3-2 vote. What happened after that is unclear.

Jennings Nettles, District 5 supervisor in Wilkinson County, hired Ridgeland-based attorney Cory Wilson to challenge Johnson's map. Wilson said he never had to challenge it, though, because Johnson never submitted anything to the DOJ.

"In my contacts with the DOJ lawyers, I don't think they ever got a submission," Wilson said. "I don't think (D.L. Johnson Consultants) ever got their act together and did it the right way."

Former District 4 Supervisor Robert Morgan, who lost his re-election bid last year, said the failure to submit a map was the Board of Supervisors' fault, not Johnson's. "He brought us maps to look at in plenty of time, but we couldn't come to an agreement on it," Morgan said.

Wilkinson County never paid Johnson for the work he did. Wilson said the county didn't pay because Johnson never finished the job, but Morgan said again that it was the county's fault.

"We never did get a result, but actually, we didn't have the money to pay. The county was broke," Morgan said.

Johnson could not be reached for comment.

Timeline
• January 2011 - Wilkinson County Supervisors hire D.L. Johnson Consultants to headthe county's redistricting process.
• March 21 - Supervisors approve a Johnson-designed map by a vote of 3-2, despite three supervisors--Mack Haynes (District 1), Bubba McNabb (District 3) and Jennings Nettles (District 5)--saying they did not see the map prior to the meeting.
• April 17 - The Woodville Republican reports that a citizen has pointed out that Johnson's map moved a voting precinct from District 1 to District 5 in error.
• April 21 - Johnson presents a new map to supervisors with the voting precinct moved back to District 1. McNabb and Nettles table the vote until next meeting.
• May 5 - Haynes presents Johnson's final map to fellow Supervisors. The Board approves the map by a vote of 3-2.
• June 20 -  Supervisors vote 5-0 to use district maps drawn after the 2000 Census for 2011 elections because the DOJ must approve maps at least 90 days prior to elections and it has not received a submission.