Detailed population data that will determine future political boundaries will be released Thursday (today), the U.S. Census Bureau announced.
The figures, which will detail population counts down to the block level, will be given to state officials Wednesday, said Robert Bernstein, a spokesman for the bureau. The full set of data for Missouri will be available to the public the next day, with data for individual cities on the U.S. Census Bureau website.
The release will start the work of redrawing boundaries of population-based political districts. From city ward lines to congressional districts, each will be examined to see whether population shifts require a new map.
Missouri will lose a congressional district, so each remaining district must be made larger. Sen. Scott Rupp, R-Wentzville, is chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee and said he will release the amount of population that will be added to the eight remaining districts at his first public hearing Friday in Springfield.
The hearing will be one of six he intends to hold around the state. “First we are going to get the data and run simulations and models so we can get public input,” he said.
Missouri House and Senate districts will be redrawn by commissions appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon
Under the Missouri Constitution, Nixon has 30 days to select the members of each commission.
Â