Flathead County has redrawn the boundaries for its three commissioner districts to reflect shifts in population from 2000 to 2010.

The county commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved the new boundaries, but final approval will come by a Flathead District Court judge.

Commissioner districts must be evaluated and altered as necessary after each census to keep the number of voters per district as nearly equal as possible and to keep the land area per district as similar as possible.

Flathead County has two anomalies — Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area — which make redrawing boundaries a challenge, Deputy County Attorney Tara Fugina told the commissioners. Those huge swaths of federal lands skew the land area of the commissioner districts.

The county opted to reconfigure the districts by precinct boundary lines this time around instead of using township lines, election supervisor Monica Eisenzimer said.

One of the biggest changes in the new boundary map takes place on the west side of the county, where the District 3 boundary will extend much farther north to include Olney and areas north of Olney that previously were in District 1.

District 1, generally the northern tier of Flathead County, now dips farther south in some areas.

The population distribution reflected in the new boundary map shows 29,765 residents in District 1, 30,372 in District 2 and 30,786 in District 3.

The commissioners adjusted the boundaries in January 2012 to reflect population shifts, but then rescinded their action because commissioners Jim Dupont and Dale Lauman felt the timing would affect commissioner candidates filing for the District 3 seat now held by Gary Krueger.

When the commissioners voted on the boundary changes on Jan. 17, 2012, the filing period for that year’s election was already open. By the time District Judge Ted Lympus signed the legal description of the new boundaries on Jan. 28, it was past the deadline of six months prior to an election to change boundaries.

State law says a change in boundaries of any commissioner district may not be made between the date that falls six months before a county commissioner primary election and the date of the general election.

Cal Scott currently represents District 1, Pam Holmquist represents District 2 and Krueger represents District 3.

People can run for the commissioner seat only in the district where they live, but all county voters cast ballots for all commission races.

The next commissioner election will take place in 2014 when the District 1 seat is open. It was held by Dupont until his death in March 2012, and Scott was elected to fill out the remainder of the term.

The old boundaries, which are still the current boundaries until the judge signs off on the legal descriptions, can be found on Flathead County’s interactive mapping website at http://maps.flathead.mt.gov. Click on “I Agree” to enter the website. On the right side of the map in the Table of Contents go to Election and place a check mark in the Commissioner Districts box.