Analysts Say Redistricting Legislative Seats Mid-Cycle Not Constitutional
In a memo provided to the State Administration and Veterans Affairs Interim Committee last week, legal analysts with the state said the constitution lays out how the redistricting commission is selected in the session preceding the decennial federal census, and dissolved after its work is done. “Since the commission has been dissolved once it complied with that redistricting plan, and presented it, and it became law under those timelines, under the previous sections, we no longer have that commission, so it cannot be brought back,” said Legislative attorney Andria Hardin. The question about a mid-cycle redistricting arose during a May meeting of the committee, when Republican Rep.
- ▪In a memo provided to the State Administration and Veterans Affairs Interim Committee last week, legal analysts with the state said the constitution lays out how the redistricting commission is selected in the session preceding the decennia
- ▪“Since the commission has been dissolved once it complied with that redistricting plan, and presented it, and it became law under those timelines, under the previous sections, we no longer have that commission, so it cannot be brought back,
- ▪The question about a mid-cycle redistricting arose during a May meeting of the committee, when Republican Rep.
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News Posted on July 23, 2026 Posted on July 23, 2026 Analysts Say Redistricting Legislative Seats Mid-Cycle Not Constitutional The Montana Constitution does not allow for the state to reconvene the commission to draw new legislative district between cycles, according to an analysis by the Legislative Legal Services Office. In a memo provided to the State Administration and Veterans Affairs Interim Committee last week, legal analysts with the state said the constitution lays out how the redistricting commission is selected in the session preceding the decennial federal census, and dissolved after its work is done.
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