A group of Kansas lawmakers will be in Lawrence on Friday to hold a public hearing and gather community input ahead of efforts to redraw legislative districts before the 2022 election.
Redistricting takes place every 10 years after the completion of the Census, the constitutionally required population count that determines how many U.S. House of Representatives members a state is allocated, where state and local legislative boundaries are drawn, as well as where billions of dollars in federal funding goes every year.
The 26 Kansas legislators on the House and Senate redistricting committees — including Lawrence Rep. Barbara Ballard — are holding 14 town hall meetings across the state this week to gather public input on where legislative boundaries at both the state and local levels. The group’s last stop will be in Lawrence from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. on Friday in Room 1111 of Capitol Federal Hall on the KU campus, 1654 Naismith Drive.
Ballard, who has represented Lawrence in the legislature since 1993, is Douglas County’s only representative on either the House or Senate committee. The House committee has 17 members, 12 of whom are Republicans, and the Senate committee has nine members, seven of whom are Republicans. Rep. Chris Croft, R-Wyandotte, and Sen. Rick Wilborn, R-McPherson, chair the two committees.
If you want to submit written testimony to Friday’s meeting, you can fill out this form from the nonprofit organization KS Fair Maps until 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
You can also email redistricting@klrd.ks.gov, and include the date and location of the meeting. The redistricting committees also want members of the public to know:
• Email written testimony in PDF format to redistricting@klrd.ks.gov by 5 p.m. Thursday.
• All written testimony must include your name, your affiliation (if any), your contact information, and the date and location of the meeting at the top of the first page.
• A sign-up sheet will be available the day of the meeting, though time may be limited.
For anyone unable to make the meeting in person, a livestream will be available on YouTube or on the legislature’s public meeting access page.
To learn more about the process of redistricting, visit the KS Fair Maps website.
Conner Mitchell (he/him), reporter, can be reached at cmitchell (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com or 785-435-9264. If you have sensitive information to send Conner, please email connermitchell (at) protonmail (dot) com. Read more of his work for the Times here.
