SHRUM NAMED TO SENATE REDISTRICTING PANEL

MARBLE HILL - Kenneth W. Shrum, former Bollinger County prosecutor and attorney, is one of six Missouri Appeals Court judges named last week to decide boundary lines for the state's 34 senatorial districts.

Shrum who was appointed to the panel by Supreme Court Chief Justice Edward Robertson, said the assignment is not something he sought. "I did not volunteer; I was sought out, I guess," said Shrum.

Shrum was appointed to the southern district of the appeals court last spring by Gov. John Ashcroft. The court is headquartered in Springfield.

The job of drawing senatorial districts based on 1990 population figures fell to the judicial panel after a 10 member bipartisan commission was unable to reach agreement on a map. Its deadline passed; however, the group reached an impasse.

In 1981, six appeals court judges drew the present senatorial district boundaries.

Last Friday an 18-member bipartisan commission reached final agreement on a map for the state's 163 House districts. In May the General Assembly agreed on a map for the state's nine U.S. House districts, which was signed into law by the governor.

Shrum said he had no idea how long it would take to draw the lines or what procedure would be used. The judge also said it was not appropriate for him to comment on whether existing maps would be considered or whether public hearings would be conducted.

At this week's judicial conference, Shrum said he anticipated a first meeting date would be set, but beyond that he had no other information on the process.

"The entire group needs to meet and talk about procedure," said Shrum. "It would be premature and improper for me to comment on how the group will function."

Shrum said he anticipated the judges getting together fairly soon to get organized. By law, the final map must be completed no later than Dec. 21.

Shrum said he expects a lot of work will be involved. "It will be a difficult job and very time consuming to do it right."

Other judges named to the panel are John C. Crow of the southern district; Robert W. Berrey III and Don W. Kennedy of the western district in Kansas City; and James Pudlowski and Kathianne K. Crane of the eastern district in St. Louis.

Just as the Senate Redistricting Commission had plenty of maps offered as suggestions, the judicial panel likely will have the same bounty of suggestions.

An effort is under way among present members of the Missouri Senate to finalize a proposed map that satisfies most members of the body. Also, there are plans that individual members have as recommendations for their parts of the state, and remnants of the Democratic and Republican plans that stalled before the commission.

The redistricting commission reached a stalemate after Democrats charged the five Republican members had taken a "take-it-or-leave-it" approach to a map that would have enabled the GOP to make major inroads in the 23-to-11 Democratic majority in the present Senate.