Kansas's Congressional Districts - Legislative Responsibility

Legislative Responsibility

In Kansas the state legislature has initial responsibility for drawing the congressional district lines. The Governor has veto power over the plan.

For the 2000 reapportionment process, the guidelines adopted by the House Select Committee on Redistricting and the Senate Committee on Reapportionment (April 25–26, 2001) were as follows:

• Kansas counties and voting districts were the "building blocks" used for drawing district boundaries, using their population reported in the 2000 U.S. Decennial Census as the basis.
• Districts were to be as nearly equal to 672,105 population as practicable, but would attempt to recognize "community of interests".
• Redistricting plans would have neither the purpose nor the effect of diluting minority voting strength.
• Districts would be as compact as possible and contiguous.

The "community of interests" was further defined as "social, cultural, racial, ethnic, and economic interests common to the population of the area, which are probable subjects of legislation". It was suggested that the core of the existing districts should be preserved, and, because of their importance as political or socioeconomic units, whole counties should be in the same district to the extent possible.