With just over a week until the official U.S. Census day of April 1, Coweta County officials are trying to get out the message for citizens to send in their forms.

Coweta County public information officer Tom Corker is heading up the Complete Count Committee and said the county wants to make sure everybody is counted.

Corker said the committee has contacted more than 133 religious groups in the county, along with businesses such as local cable companies to inform people how important it is to return the forms.

In 1990, Coweta County was one of the lowest reporting counties in the state, with just under 70 percent of the residents filling out the forms.

In the last decade, the county has grown by more than 60 percent and the demographics started to change. The county has seen a huge migration from people around the country, and also people from other countries.

“I've created English and Spanish brochures to help get the word out,” Corker said.

The county's utility companies are posting messages about the census forms at the bottoms of bills, and many grocery stores are putting forms in residents' grocery bags.

Census numbers are used to calculate how many representatives each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives and are also used to determine which areas will receive federal grants.

April 1, Census workers will start going door-to-door to collect information from residents who have not sent their forms back to the government.

Along with members of the committee, Corker said county clerk Roxie Clark has been working closely with officials to make sure they have the most current county maps.

Figures gathered from this census will not be released until next year.

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