Redistricting hearings will happen in August across the state.
The Legislative Redistricting committee has set hearings through the month of August as they prepare to redraw the lines of the state’s voting districts. This includes the four U.S. Congressional districts as well as the 174 Mississippi House and Senate districts.
Redistricting occurs every 10 years after the U.S. Census is completed using updated population numbers and demographic distribution within the state.
Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann indicated they will receive full Census data by September, however it has been mentioned that Mississippi was one of three states that did lose population. The expectation of loss to gross population is roughly 6,000 people.
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“The Joint Reapportionment Committee will be holding meetings all over the state to listen to the people. Once we receive final census numbers, we will begin restructuring districts in the House and Senate according to the population shift,” said Co-Chair of the committee Senate Pro Tempore Dean Kirby.
The Legislature will be forced to consider redistricting early in the 2022 legislative session with qualifying dates set for March for upcoming Congressional mid-term elections.
The hearing schedule is as follows and all meetings will be held at 6:00 p.m.:
August 5: Meridian, at Meridian Community College in the McCain Theater.
August 6: Tupelo, Itawamba Community College Belden Center.
August 9: Senatobia, Northwest Community College Haraway Center.
August 11: Itta Bena, Mississippi Valley State University William A. Butts Social Science Building.
August 12: Starkville, Mississippi State University Hunter Henry Center.
August 16: Natchez, Alcorn State University Business School Auditorium.
August 18: Gulfport, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Harrison County campus Fine Arts Auditorium.
August 19: Hattiesburg, University of Southern Mississippi Joe Paul Theater in the Thad Cochran Center.
August 23: Jackson, Mississippi Capitol, room 216.
The committee consists of Senators Hob Bryan, Dennis DeBar, Josh Harkins, Briggs Hopson, David Parker, Derrick T. Simmons, Jeff Tate, Angela Turner-Ford, and Brice Wiggins and Representatives Charles Jim Beckett, Dan Eubanks, Edward Blackmon, Jr.; Bo Brown; Kevin Ford; Vince Mangold; John Read; Fred Shanks; Cheikh Taylor; Jason White
Sarah Ulmer
