Fort’s soldiers sent overseas could be counted as residents

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) – Soldiers from Fort Campbell who are sent overseas for temporary operations could be counted as residents of the region surrounding the base beginning in 2020.

According to the Kentucky New Era (http://bit.ly/29HXrxa ), the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday published a proposed rule change on the Federal Registry for criteria it plans to use in the next decennial census.

The rule change is expected to more accurately reflect the number of soldiers who live in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and other communities surrounding the Army installation.

Hopkinsville officials have argued the local population number is inaccurate because the census fails to count a significant number of soldiers and dependents. In the 2010 census, thousands of soldiers who were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan were not counted as residents of local communities.

___

Information from: Kentucky New Era, http://www.kentuckynewera.com

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.