ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - A series of eight hearings designed to get input on Minnesota's political boundaries is beginning.

A court panel weighing once-a-decade shifts in state political lines starts gathering public comments Tuesday night in Bloomington. It will hold other hearings across the state through Oct. 14.

The outreach is one of the early steps as the court decides where to draw congressional and legislative district lines to conform to population shifts in the last census. The goal is to make all districts roughly equal in population size.

Judges say they hope the hearings will provide facts, opinions and concerns over plans drawn up by the political parties. The GOP-led Legislature's proposed maps ran into a veto from Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat.

The court isn't expected to issue its maps until February.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

More From AM 1240 WJON