Houston won't be forced to redraw city council districts before the 2010 census, even though the city's population has increased enough to warrant that action by law. The Houston Chronicle's Bradley Olson reports that the lawsuit filed by Port of Houston commissioner Vidal Martinez and former City Councilman Carroll Robinson did not prevail at the courthouse this week:

The lawsuit argued the city was violating its own charter by refusing to redistrict and add two council districts when its population passed the 2.1 million threshhold in late 2006.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake rejected that contention, finding the plaintiffs had failed to show the city’s charter compelled redistricting. Martinez promised an appeal.

And so the size and makeup of the Houston City Council and its district boundaries will be revisited after the next nationwide census.

In February, the city council voted to postpone redistricting until 2010. Mayor Bill White drew some criticism from people who said the issue of district lines and representation should be taken up in sooner, especially since the city's estimated headcount had passed 2.1 million in 2006. But that citywide estimate does not drill down to the precinct level, and detailed 2000 numbers were viewed by city officials as being too old to rely on.

Federal District Judge Sim Lake's decision hinged on the need for an official, accurate count of the population and demographic information to dismiss the case was based on the plaintiffs' failure to prove that their rights under federal statutes and the Constitution had been violated.

From the Chronicle:

City Attorney Arturo Michel said the ruling upholds the city’s contention that it could not follow federal law regarding redistricting without the accuracy provided by the upcoming decennial population count by the U.S. Census Bureau. Federal law requires precinct-level data for redistricting, which would not be available until after the 2010 count. Using data from the 2000 count, the city argued, would lead to inaccurate district boundaries.

White's office issued a statement in response to the judge's decision.

City officials have fielded a lot of criticism; but, Judge Lake’s ruling confirms that the decision to wait until we get the best available data is most fair to voters.

See some primary source documents in the debate here.