A Franklin Circuit Court judge has thrown out new legislative district maps, saying they violate the basic principles of the Kentucky Constitution.
Judge Phillip Shepherd's ruling is based on the so-called five percent rule. It says new districts must be within five percent of their ideal size. Shepherd added that the maps of both the House and Senate districts divided too many counties.
Kentucky lawmakers are struggling to finalize new Congressional districts.
Both chambers approved new maps of the districts last month and have been in a conference committee for weeks to work out the differences. Last week, legislative leaders thought they were close to an agreement that would leave the maps relatively unchanged, but no compromise was made.
A Kentucky judge says he may rule by midweek on the constitutionality of legislative redistricting in a case that has the state's election filing deadline in flux.
