News Item
Special Redistricting Panel: Media Advisory - February 20, 2012
Posted: Monday, February 20, 2012
As set forth by Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie S. Gildea in a June 1, 2011 order, the Minnesota Special Redistricting Panel, “…shall order implementation of judicially-determined redistricting plans for state legislative and congressional seats only in the event that the Legislature and Governor have not in a timely manner enacted redistricting plans that satisfy constitutional and statutory requirements.”
If no legislative plan has been enacted by Tuesday, February 21, 2012, the statutory deadline for the Legislature’s adoption of a congressional and legislative plan, the Panel intends to release its redistricting plan at 1 p.m. that day. At that time, the Panel will post its plan on the Minnesota Judicial Branch public Website, www.mncourts.gov, under the “special redistricting panel” link located on the home page.
On the Website, the public will be able to retrieve in PDF format:
a. The Panel’s orders regarding redistricting;
b. Statewide and Twin Cities area congressional district maps;
c. Statewide and Twin Cities area legislative district maps;
d. Selected maps of metro areas around Minnesota where it is impossible to discern the legislative districts from the statewide perspective; and
e. Various Maptitude reports.
The electronic redistricting plans will also be available in the form of three separate block equivalency files, one each for the congressional districts, the state senate districts, and the state house districts.
In order to make the Panel’s redistricting plan available to members of the public who may not have access to the Internet, the State Law Library located in the Minnesota Judicial Center in St. Paul, MN, and all county law libraries will be mailed one copy each at the time the plan is issued so that it may be publicly accessible in the libraries no later than February 27, 2012.
The Special Redistricting Panel appointed by Chief Justice Lorie S. Gildea was ordered to hear and decide all matters in Hippert, et al v. Ritchie, et al (A11-152) regarding the validity of state legislative and congressional districts based on the 2010 Census. The Panel members are Hon. Wilhelmina M. Wright, presiding judge; Hon. Ivy S. Bernhardson; Hon. James B. Florey; Hon. Edward I. Lynch; and Hon. John R. Rodenberg.
The Panel’s web page is located on the state court system website at www.mncourts.gov/?page=4469.