Reapportionment Commission to hear public testimony on state legislative district boundaries
Although the drawing of Colorado’s Congressional district boundaries has been sent to the courts (since the state senate failed to consider redistricting legislation, abdicating their constitutional obligations), the Reapportionment Commission (charged with drawing state legislative districts) is meeting over the summer and will hear public testimony both in Denver (initially) and throughout the state (once a draft district map has been developed for review and comment).
The commission has divided the state into 7 regions for the purpose of hearing public testimony. Public testimony on the first region to be considered (southern Colorado, including Pueblo, Saguache, Rio Grande, Huerfano, Las Animas, Alamosa, Mineral, Conejos and Costilla counties) was held on Tuesday, 31 May 2011. Additional public testimony will be held by region on a weekly basis, continuing today (Monday 6 June) through the middle of July:
|
Region Number |
Counties Included |
Date of Public Hearing |
|
1 |
Pueblo, Saguache, Rio Grande, Huerfano, Las Animas, Alamosa, Mineral, Conejos and Costilla | Tuesday 31 May |
|
2 |
Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Morgan, Washington, Yuma, Elbert, Lincoln, Kit Carson, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Crowley, Otero, Bent, Prowers, and Baca (Eastern Plains) | Monday 6 June |
|
3 |
Archuleta, Chaffee, Delta, Dolores, Eagle, Garfield, Grand, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Jackson, Lake, La Plata, Mesa, Moffat, Montezuma, Montrose, Ouray, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, San Juan, San Miguel, and Summit (Western Slope) | Monday 13 June |
|
4 |
Custer, Clear Creek, Douglas, El Paso, Fremont, Gilpin, Park, and Teller | Monday 20 June |
|
5 |
Larimer and Weld | Monday 27 June |
|
6 |
Adams, Boulder, Broomfield, and Jefferson | Tuesday 5 July
(UPDATE: Monday 11 July) |
|
7 |
Arapahoe and Denver | Monday 11 July |
Meetings will be held in Hearing Room A of the Legislative Services Building, located at 200 E. 14th Ave. (just south of the Capitol building). The public testimony portion of each meeting is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. and will also be broadcast over the Internet for those unable to attend in person.
Additional information is also available on the Reapportionment Commission website.
Additional references:
- Constitutional Provisions Controlling Reapportionment/Redistricting (official Colorado state website, which collates relevant constitutional language on Congressional redistricting and state legislative reapportionment)
- Redistricting in Colorado (Ballotpedia site – although the site contains several errors, some of which are being corrected, it does provide useful context and historical background on past restricting battles. As with any Wiki site – contributions come from a variety of sources and are frequently edited – proceed with some skepticism)
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