List of parishes in Louisiana
The U.S. state of Louisiana is divided into 64 parishes (French: "paroisses") in the same manner that 48 other states of the United States are divided into counties, and Alaska is divided into boroughs.
Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
Calcasieu Parish is governed by an elected body known as the Police Jury. Some 15 single-member districts have been defined, with a population of approximately 12,200 persons per district (based on the 2000 Census). Each district elects one Juror for representation, in keeping with the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court of the "one man, one vote" principle. The Court had found that Louisiana and a number of other states had failed to reapportion their state legislatures for years, in some cases keeping representation based on geographic boundaries rather than population. This had resulted in under-representation for decades of urban and industrialized districts in the state legislature. Redistricting was also required at the parish level for election of police juries. The U.S. Department of Justice requires reapportionment (or redistricting) of the parish following each official census. This can change the boundaries of the single-member districts, to ensure that each Juror represents approximately the same number of people.