Committees get to work redrawing Missouri legislative districts

State Sen. Jason Crowell hopes the two Missouri commissions responsible for redrawing the legislative districts -- one which includes Cape Girardeau City Council member Kathy Swan -- complete their tasks and leave the courts out of it.

But he's not optimistic.

"I don't forejudge anything," Crowell said last week. "I wish them well. But the best predictor of the future is what happens in the past."

If that dictum holds out, then at least some of the work will ultimately fall to a panel of state judges, just as it has following the past four census counts that mandated the maps be redrawn.

The two apportionment commissions represented evenly by Republicans and Democrats got to work last week to redraw boundaries for the state's 163 House and 34 Senate districts. They have until Aug. 18 to have a tentative plan filed with the secretary of state's office and Sept. 18 for a final plan.

If not, the matter will be settled by the courts. But here's why Crowell's less than confident -- 70 percent of the membership from each bipartisanship commission must agree on the map, meaning seven members of the 10-person Senate panel and 12 from the House group must reach consensus.

"You need a supermajority on a bipartisan commission," said Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau. "Sometimes that gets a little difficult."

Since at least the 1970 census, the courts have been brought in every time to finalize redistricting maps. In 1971, the Senate commission found common ground, but Missouri appellate court judges had to redraw the House map after its commission failed to reach a consensus. In 1981 and 1991, judges redrew the legislative map for new Senate districts. In 2001, appeals judges redrew the boundaries for both chambers when the commissions were unsuccessful.

Kathy Swan is on the Senate apportionment commission, appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon last month after being nominated by state Republicans. The Missouri Constitution requires the governor to appoint the commissions to reapportion the districts following the national census that occurs every 10 years.

Swan met in Jefferson City with her fellow commissioners Tuesday, and she's hopeful that the courts won't have to be called in.

"We got off to a good, congenial start. I think we're all committed to coming up with a map that does not need to go to the courts," said Swan, who owns JCS Wireless and has worked on Republican campaigns for President George W. Bush, U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, among others.

Swan learned Tuesday that the Senate Commission must draft a plan consisting of 34 districts with populations as close to 176,145 in each district as possible. The House Commission has to draw a map of 163 districts with populations as close to 36,742 as possible. Missouri's total population, according to the 2010 census, stands at 5,988,927.

Swan will be attending public hearings in Jefferson City later this month as well as hearings next month in St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield. Swan said she understands that the work of the commissions is important and that she thought well before accepting the job.

"Everyone says it's on the list of thankless jobs, but it's crucial," Swan said. "Once the lines are drawn, we have to live with them for 10 years until the next census. So it's very important."

Swan will be involved with another redistricting of sorts, when Cape Girardeau's wards are redrawn this summer. Swan represents Ward 6 on the council.

The census places Cape Girardeau's population at 37,941 and needs to have six wards with about 6,324 people per ward, said assistant city manager Ken Eftink. Those wards need to be redrawn and submitted to the Cape Girardeau County clerk by the end of August, Eftink said. They hope to get those wards to within 1 to 2 percent of the goal, Eftink said.

smoyers@semissourian.com

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