JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Supreme Court is taking a second look at the state's new congressional districts.
Arguments Thursday were over a pair of legal challenges claiming redrawn districts are not sufficiently compact. The state constitution requires districts to be "as compact and as nearly equal in population as may be."
Congressional districts are redrawn every 10 years based on the most recent census. Missouri is losing one of its nine U.S. House seats because its population growth since 2000 did not keep pace with other states. The Republican-controlled Legislature enacted its redistricting map last year after overriding the veto of Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.
This is the second time the state Supreme Court has examined congressional redistricting this year. Last month, the state high court ordered further legal review of the new U.S. House map by a trial court. The trial court upheld the new districts, and that decision was appealed.
