The Arkansas Board of Apportionment will hold eight public meetings on redistricting throughout the state over the next two months.
The Board of Apportionment — made up of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state — is set to redraw the district boundaries of the 35 Senate and 100 House of Representatives seats later this year based on the 2020 U.S. Census.
Comment forms will be provided at each meeting. An online version is available at arkansasredistricting.org/public-comments/public-comment.
The hearings will be live streamed at myarkansaspbs.org/arcan/home.
In a news release Monday, the panel’s redistributing coordinator, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Betty Dickey, said the board’s goals in redistricting are “creating districts that are substantially equal in population, geographically contiguous and compact; preserving cores of existing districts and communities of interest; recognizing geographic boundaries; and, ensuring redistricting is not based on racial gerrymandering or political partisanship.”
All eight meetings will take place from 6:30-8 p.m. The dates and locations are:
• July 29 at University of Arkansas at Monticello Fine Arts Center, 371 University Dr., Monticello
• Aug. 3 at Vada Sheid Community Development Center at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home, 1600 S. College St., Mountain Home
• Aug. 5 at Walmart Auditorium Shewmakter Center for Workforce Technologies, 1000 S.E. Eagle Way, Bentonville
• Aug. 10 at University of Arkansas-Hope Hempstead Hall, 2500 S. Main St., Hope
• Aug. 12 at Phillips County Community College Fine Arts Center (Community Room), 1000 Campus Road, Helena
• Aug. 17 at Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center (Reynolds Room), 800 N. 50th St., Fort Smith
• Aug. 19 at Embassy Suites by Hilton Jonesboro Red Wolf Convention Center at Arkansas State University, 23 Red Wolf Blvd., Jonesboro
• Aug. 24 at Jack Stephens Center, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock