<hr /></p><p>The Missouri Supreme Court this week threw the U.S. House and State Senate redistricting efforts back to the lake like an underweight catfish.</p><p>Citing arguments that hold the new Congressional districts lack compactness, and that State Senate districts divide the wrong counties, the rulings throw into question whether new districts can be drawn before candidate filing for the 2012 elections begins.</p><p>Can nothing be done in Jefferson City fairly and on time?</p><p>It appears not.</p><p>The Court may be absolutely correct in its rulings, but this debacle only points up the hazards of attempting to complete a once-a-decade task during a politically charged era. Cooperation is distant memory and there are partisan implications to every action taken.</p><p>As a result, our state&#x92;s judiciary is burdened with the task of demanding a do-over, while ordinary citizens with business before the Court must take a back seat.</p><p>There is no way to know if elected, but ousted, Presiding Commissioner Herschel Young&#x92;s case against Prosecuting Attorney Teresa Hensley would have been decided this month without the redistricting case. But with only one more potential hand-down date scheduled in January &#x96; Jan. 31 &#x96; it seems less and less likely that our county of 100,000 will have closure on this matter anytime soon.</p><p>The Court is scheduled to issue no opinions in February, which means it will be at least March before a decision is rendered.</p><p>That would leave Cass County with two commissioners well into the spring before the governing commission could be filled.</p><p>Clearly the Court&#x92;s priority was to hear and rule on the redistricting cases with the utmost haste. The cases affect the entire state, not just a single county.</p><p>But Cass County&#x92;s case, which was heard by the high court in November, is no minor issue. We need closure.