JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A special committee of the Missouri House will study whether changes should be made to the state's judiciary.
Republican Rep. Jason Smith, of Salem, has been named chairman of the House Special Standing Committee on Judicial Reform.
Smith says the panel will look at whether to change the boundaries for Missouri's judicial circuits, which he says have not been reorganized in more than 40 years. Smith says lawmakers may examine ways to make the circuits more compact so that workloads are more balanced.
The legislative effort comes as some lawmakers have expressed frustration about the way in which a special judicial panel redrew the boundaries for state House and Senate districts in response to the 2010 census.