Missouri’s Supreme Court has issued two additional rulings addressing further legal challenges to the revised congressional district map that became active last year. On May 12, the court affirmed the circuit court’s decision that the new map, referred to as the Missouri First Map by state legislators, does not violate the Missouri Constitution in either case.
In both cases, Missouri residents contended that the 2025 map violates article III, section 45 of the Missouri Constitution by dividing the state into congressional districts that fail to meet constitutional requirements. The constitutional provision requires the legislature to “divide the state into districts corresponding with the number of representatives to which it is entitled, which districts shall be comprised of contiguous territory as compact and as nearly equal in population as may be.”
The circuit court merged the two cases due to their similar legal arguments and determined that the residents did not establish sufficient evidence under Missouri law that the 2025 map is unconstitutional. When both groups of residents appealed their loss, the supreme court upheld the lower court’s judgment, finding that because the 2025 map was not created in violation of article III, section 45 of the Missouri Constitution, the circuit court’s decision was correct.
Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the Missouri First Map into law on Sept. 28, 2025. The redistricting effectively eliminated Missouri’s 5th Congressional District, which is currently held by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver and encompasses much of the Kansas City area. Under the new boundaries, the Kansas City metropolitan region is now divided among surrounding, primarily rural districts.
An earlier legal challenge raised questions about whether the state legislature has constitutional authority to redraw congressional districts outside the standard ten-year cycle following the U.S. Census. The circuit court determined that the Missouri Constitution does not restrict the General Assembly’s power to pass such legislation, a decision the Missouri Supreme Court upheld in March.
