This is plumbing, not politics — it passed all but unanimously — and the practical case is sound: a small town near a county line may simply not have a qualified, willing judge living inside its limits, and a slightly wider residency rule keeps those courts staffed. Scripture's pattern for judges is able, God-fearing men set over the people to judge at all seasons; getting a competent judge on the bench serves that end. The honest caution is small but real: the more distance you allow between a judge and the community he serves, the less he may know its character and circumstances firsthand. Here the loosening is modest — same county or the nearest bordering one — so the trade is minor. Decide it on practicality; there is no hidden agenda to hunt for in this one.
"Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers... and let them judge the people at all seasons."
— Exodus 18:21-22 (KJV)