A Missouri judge could rule in mid-February ona lawsuit challenging new boundaries for state House districts.
The case was scheduled for a Friday hearing before Cole County Circuit Judge Pat Joyce. Instead, the judge gave attorneys on both sides a Feb. 10 deadline for submitting written arguments. Joyce could rule the following week. Candidates currently can start filing Feb. 28 for this year's elections.
Districts for the 163-seat Missouri House were redrawn based on population changes from the 2010 census.
A bipartisan group of more than a dozen people filed suit contending the new Missouri House map violates requirements that districts have similar populations and be contiguous and compact. The lawsuit also contends that a special judicial panel that drew the map violated Missouri's open meetings law.
