Schedule set for redistricting hearings

ATLANTA — The two committees in the General Assembly in charge of drawing new congressional and legislative district lines this year have set the schedule for 10 remaining town hall hearings across Georgia.

The House Legislative & Congressional Reapportionment Committee and the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee held the first hearing on Tuesday at the state Capitol.

Here is the remaining schedule of hearings:

June 28: Atlanta

June 29: Cumming

June 30: Dalton

July 6: Athens

July 7: Augusta

July 26: Brunswick

July 27: Albany

July 28: Columbus

July 29: Macon

July 30: Virtual only

All of the hearings will run from 5-7 p.m. Locations will be announced later.

The General Assembly draws new congressional and legislative district boundaries every 10 years following the latest U.S. census to account for population shifts that have occurred during the previous decade.

Districts must be as close to equal in population as possible, although legislative districts get a little more leeway in that regard than congressional districts. Lawmakers will draw boundaries for 14 U.S. House districts, 180 state House districts and 56 Georgia Senate districts.

The General Assembly expects to receive the full range of census data lawmakers will use to govern the process by the end of September. Gov. Brian Kemp then will schedule a special session sometime this fall for the legislature to draw and approve the maps.

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