The Kentucky Supreme Court released its final ruling Thursday on the redistricting law, a ruling that says the law is unconstitutional because populations within the state’s legislative districts were out of balance.

The court also reaffirmed their earlier ruling that legislative candidates will have to run in districts that have been in place for the past 10 years. The 27-page ruling explains the legal reasons for their two-page opinion from Friday, Feb. 24, wherein the court originally declared the law unconstitutional.

“House Bill 1 violates Section 33 of the Kentucky Constitution because it does not achieve sufficient population equality or preserve county integrity,” wrote Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. “The Kentucky House of Representatives and Kentucky Senate redistricting plans fail to divide the fewest number of counties mathematically possible. Each plan also contains at least one district with a population deviation greater than 5 percent from the ideal district.”

Under the state congressional districts that were drawn in 2002, Trigg County is in the Eighth District, represented by John Tilley (D), and the Fifth District, represented by Melvin Henley (D).

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