Guidelines aimed at redrawing Warren County to balance the population inside its five political districts were OK’d by supervisors Monday.

A seven-point list of procedural steps geared for the Department of Justice’s approval mandate the following:

• A 10 percent difference between the most and least populated districts.

• Fair and effective minority representation is ensured.

• That district lines keep common communities intact.

• That each district be contiguous, or geographically whole regions.

• That each district be compact.

• That each district follow such natural geographic boundaries as major roads or rivers, where possible.

• Incumbents be separated into individual districts to a practical extent.

Redistricting became necessary after figures from the 2010 Census showed population inside Vicksburg city limits down 9.7 percent compared with 2000 — a dive most acute in Districts 2 and 3, which cover most of the inner city.

Vicksburg’s population was 23,856 in the count released Feb. 3. The countywide total was 48,773, down 1.75 percent from the 2000 count.

Maps from Central Mississippi Planning and Development District that should provide some sort of starting point were expected in supervisors’ hands today. Theoretically, approval from the federal government could prevent another set of elections under new lines in 2012. However, past census results that coincided with an election year have prompted voters to return to the polls the next year.

District 1 has 11,671 people in the most recent renderings, nearly 35 percent more than District 3, with 8,293 people. District 1 covers the northeast part of the county, home to several of the county’s newer subdivisions.

District 3, represented since 1996 by Charles Selmon, is the lone district entirely within the city, covering areas south of Clay Street to the Mississippi River bridges and east to commercial zones along East Clay Street.

The likeliest scenario is for the northeast, represented since 2000 by David McDonald, to give up strips of population to District 3 and District 2, which covers north Vicksburg and stretches northwest to Eagle Lake, has 8,499 people and has been represented since 2005 by William Banks.

Supervisors are elected from each of the five districts, as are members of the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees. Three districts denote constable and justice court seats, where precincts around the borders of each are expected to shift as a result of this year’s census.

A separate process to reapportion the state’s House and Senate districts has begun, and formal hearings are expected in March.