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((Use mdy dates|date=August 2023))
((multiple issues| ((more footnotes needed|date=November 2012))
((more citations needed|date=November 2012)) ))
((Infobox SCOTUS case
  |Litigants=Avery v. Midland County
  |ArgueDate=November 14
  |ArgueYear=1967
  |DecideDate=April 1
  |DecideYear=1968
  |FullName=Avery v. Midland County, et al.
  |USVol=390
  |USPage=474
  |ParallelCitations=88 S. Ct. 1114; 20 [[L. Ed. 2d]] 45
  |Prior=Certiorari to the [[Supreme Court of Texas]]
  |Subsequent=
  |Holding=The Court struck down local governmental districts inequality based their decision on the principle of "one man, one vote."
  |Majority=White
  |JoinMajority=Warren, Black, Douglas, Brennan
  |Dissent=Harlan
  |Dissent2=Fortas
  |Dissent3=Stewart
  |NotParticipating=Marshall
  |LawsApplied=[[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|U.S. Const. amend. XIV]], [[Equal Protection Clause]]
  |Overturned previous case=[[Colegrove v. Green]], 328 U.S. 549 (1946)
))
((wikisource))
'''''Avery v. Midland County''''', 390 U.S. 474 (1968), is a [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]] case that ruled that [[Local government in the United States|local government]] districts had to be roughly equal in population.

== Background ==
Having already held in 1965 in ''[[Reynolds v. Sims]]'' that disparities in legislative districts violated the [[Equal Protection Clause]] of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]], the Supreme Court applied the same logic to local government districts for bodies which also have broad policy-making functions.

The case was brought by Henry Clifton Avery, Jr., more commonly known as Hank Avery, who was [[Mayor]] of the City of [[Midland, Texas]].  He challenged the districting scheme for the Commissioners Court of [[Midland County, Texas|Midland County]], a five-member county commission with four Commissioners elected in single-member districts and the County Judge elected at-large.<ref>[http://www.county.org/counties/desc_office/commiss.asp  Texas Association of Counties] ((webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711223601/http://www.county.org/counties/desc_office/commiss.asp |date=July 11, 2007 ))</ref> One Commissioner's district, which included almost all the City of Midland, had a population of 67,906, according to 1963 estimates. The others, all rural areas, had populations respectively, of about 852; 414; and 828.

Avery brought his case in Texas District Court in Midland. Three of the four commissioners testified at trial that population was not a major factor in the districting process. The trial court ruled for petitioner that each district under the State's constitutional apportionment standard should have "substantially the same number of people." An intermediate appellate court reversed. The Texas Supreme Court reversed that judgment, holding that under the Federal and State Constitutions the districting scheme was impermissible "for the reasons stated by the trial court." It held, however, that the work actually done by the County Commissioners "disproportionately concerns the rural areas" and that such factors as "number of qualified voters, land areas, geography, miles of county roads, and taxable values" could justify apportionment otherwise than on a basis of substantially equal populations.

== Opinion of the Court ==
The five justices who struck down local district inequality based their decision on the precedent in ''Reynolds v. Sims''. Writing for the majority, Associate Justice [[Byron White]] said, "In a word, institutions of local government have always been a major aspect of our system, and their responsible and responsive operation is today of increasing importance to the quality of life of more and more of our citizens. We therefore see little difference, in terms of the application of the Equal Protection Clause and of the principles of ''Reynolds v. Sims'', between the exercise of state power through legislatures and its exercise by elected officials in the cities, towns, and counties."

In dissent, Justice [[John Marshall Harlan II]] asserted that the [[Writ of Certiorari]] to the Texas Supreme Court was improvidently granted in that the decision was not final, since the Texas court had ordered the county to redistrict. He also resumed his objections to the line of cases started with ''Reynolds v. Sims'' saying, "I continue to think that these adventures of the Court in the realm of political science are beyond its constitutional powers, for reasons set forth at length in my dissenting opinion in ''Reynolds'', 377 U.S., at 589 et seq."

Justices [[Abe Fortas|Fortas]] and [[Potter Stewart|Stewart]] agreed with Justice Harlan that the Writ of Certiorari was improvidently granted as the decision was not yet final, but disagreed as to their reasoning on the merits of the case.

Justice [[Thurgood Marshall]] took no part in the deliberation of the case.

== See also ==
* [[Rotten and pocket boroughs]], an English phenomenon
* [[List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 390]]
* [[One man, one vote|One Person, One Vote]]

== References ==
((reflist))

==External links==
* ((caselaw source
 | case=''Avery v. Midland County'', ((Ussc|390|474|1968|el=no))
 | courtlistener =
 | findlaw = https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/390/474.html
 | googlescholar = 
 | justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/390/474/
 | oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/1967/39
))

((USRedistrictinglaw))
((US14thAmendment))
((Midland, Texas))

[[Category:United States electoral redistricting case law]]
[[Category:United States One Person, One Vote Legal Doctrine]]
[[Category:United States equal protection case law]]
[[Category:United States Supreme Court cases]]
[[Category:1968 in United States case law]]
[[Category:Midland County, Texas]]
[[Category:United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court]]

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