MN Redistricting Hearings Start Monday In Woodbury

WOODBURY, MN — Woodbury City Hall on Monday is set to host the first of 10 public hearings on redistricting in Minnesota.

The hearings, which all start at 6:30 p.m., will be run by a panel of five judges appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court in June to draw new maps for congressional and state legislative districts if lawmakers once again fail to reach agreements by Feb. 15.

The state legislature is responsible for creating new district boundaries after each U.S. Census, but Minnesota’s divided government means the panel will likely be required to step in and finish the job. Minnesota lawmakers and governors have not reached agreements on redistricting maps for half a century, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports.

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State lawmakers are also responsible for redrawing districts for the Metropolitan Council, the regional policy-making and planning body for the Twin Cities region.

Local government entities are responsible for redrawing other election districts. County boards draw county commissioner districts, city councils are responsible for city wards and school boards create districts for board members.

The five-judge panel is holding its series of public hearings this month to hear from Minnesota residents about the state’s redistricting process and how it could affect their communities.

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Minnesota Court of Appeals Judge Louise Bjorkman, who is leading the redistricting panel, said the meetings are also meant to help identify “communities of interest” that should be protected and preserved in the new district maps, a “traditional aspect” of the state’s redistricting process.

Communities of interest include groups of residents “with clearly recognizable similarities of social, geographic, political, cultural, ethnic, economic or other interests,” Bjorkman wrote.

“Receiving information from members of the public is vital to identifying these communities,” Bjorkman wrote.

The two-hour hearings, which will also be broadcast on Zoom, will provide time for about two dozen people to voice their opinions, concerns and suggestions about the redistricting process.

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Any resident who cannot speak during the hearings can submit written statements at the hearings, email them to StateRedistrictingPanel@courts.state.mn.us or mail them to the Minnesota Special Redistricting Panel. Written statements must be received by the panel by Oct. 29.

The panel is also accepting residents’ redistricting map proposals, which must be submitted by Nov. 30.

The five judges on Minnesota’s redistricting panel are Louise Bjorkman, Diane Bratvold, Jay Carlson, Juanita Freeman and Jodi Williamson.

Minnesota redistricting public hearings (all start at 6:30 p.m.)
Oct. 11 — Woodbury City Hall (8301 Valley Creek Road, Woodbury)
Oct. 12 — Minneapolis Park Board Headquarters (2117 W. River Road N., Minneapolis)
Oct. 13 — Shakopee City Hall (485 Gorman St., Shakopee)
Oct. 14 — Stearns County Service Center (3301 County Road 138, Waite Park)
Oct. 15 — Minnesota Judicial Center (25 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, St. Paul)
Oct. 18 — Hjemkomst Center (202 1st Ave. N., Moorhead)
Oct. 19 — St. Louis County Courthouse (100 N. 5th Ave. W., Duluth)
Oct. 20 — Worthington Event Center (1447 Prairie Dr., Worthington)
Oct. 21 — Olmsted County Government Center (151 4th St. SE, Rochester)
Oct. 26 — Virtual (via Zoom)