Prenzler
During a public hearing Tuesday, members of the public and the Madison County board raised concerns over the potential costs and work load of reducing the county from 29 to 25 districts.
The meeting was held as an opportunity for the public to view a redistricting map of Madison County proposed by Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler in accordance with state law. The public and members of the board were presented with the opportunity to discuss the proposed map and ask questions. No votes were taken.
Prenzler’s map was drawn by the University of Illinois Geographic Information Systems Lab at Springfield (UIS) under a $4,500 contract. Prenzler previously said the contract instructed the university to create a fair map without bias, except in regards to minority neighborhoods. The contract required that minority neighborhoods could not be broken up “to ensure that minority representation is not diluted disproportionately.”