Missouri Supreme Court Rules Senate District Map Is Constitutional

A state Senate district map drawn by a judicial commission in Missouri has been ruled constitutional by the state’s Supreme Court on Feb. 14, bringing an end to a lawsuit that has divided Republican lawmakers into two camps.

The legal challenge argued that Senate districts in suburban St. Louis and western Missouri’s Buchanan County violate the state constitution by needlessly splitting cities or counties into multiple districts.

Specifically, plaintiffs in the case—one resident of Hazelwood in St. Louis and one resident from Buchanan County—had sought to have the lines redrawn for the 13th and 14th districts in St. Louis County and to have the boundaries of the 12th, 21st, and 34th districts in northwest Missouri revised.

They had asked the court to order the district maps to be revised ahead of this year’s elections.

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12/28/2023

“This court finds the circuit court did not err in finding the Senate map constitutional. Accordingly, the circuit court’s judgment is affirmed,” the justices wrote.

The majority opinion was written by Justice Kelly Broniec, one of Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s newest appointees to the court.

“Appellants allege a multitude of facts showing the violation of the community preservation requirement, including that the Senate map divides Buchanan County and Hazelwood, that the Senate map divides communities, and that it is possible to design a map in a way that does not split Buchanan County or Hazelwood,” Justice Broniec wrote.

“By contrast, nowhere in appellants’ amended petition do they state any facts showing the violation of the population provision,” she added.

Justice Broniec also noted that the court will “not interfere with the political process by finding a redistricting map unconstitutional unless the plaintiff proves that it clearly and undoubtedly contravenes the constitution.”

The majority opinion also refuted the voters’ argument that the new map did not draw “compact” districts, as required under revised redistricting criteria approved by voters in a 2020 constitutional amendment.

Dissenting Opinions

The justices noted testimony provided by the secretary of state’s expert stated that Convex Hull scores, a measure of compactness, were used to draw the Senate Map.

“As to appellants’ expert, the circuit court found that he was not helpful because he could not testify as to how the computer program on which he relied calculated its results,” Justice Broniec wrote.

However, in his dissenting opinion, Justice W. Brent Powell found the map to be unconstitutional because it included a population deviation of more than 1 percent in the districts containing Buchanan County Hazelwood, effectively diluting the vote of those residents while also failing to keep those communities intact.

He was joined by Justice Paul Wilson in dissenting.

“What is fundamentally clear from appellants’ challenge to the Senate map is their vote has been diluted,” Justice Powell wrote. “Their communities, Buchanan County and Hazelwood, have not been preserved, and, as a result, they are unable to vote in unison with their neighbors to voice the concerns and desires of their individual communities. Even more troubling, the districts containing their divided communities have larger populations than many other Senate districts and dilute the vote of the individual members of their communities.”

The redistricting maps at the center of the lawsuit were first drawn up in 2022. While a Republican Senate committee supported the Senate map, a GOP House committee sided with Democratic-aligned voters in their lawsuit asking the districts to be overturned.

The high court’s decision means the new districts will remain in place for both this year’s elections and future elections.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.