Warren County will be moving to a new six-county state Senate district that will be represented by a Kansas City Democrat for the next two years. A bipartisan redistricting commission approved the new Senate districts by a 10-0 vote Monday with some minor tweaks made to a plan released last month. The small adjustments to some boundaries, however, will not have any impact on Warren County’s move to the newly configured 10th District. The district will also include Lincoln, Montgomery, Audrain, Callaway and Monroe counties. The 10th District will encompass counties currently in the 18th, 26th, 2nd, 6th and 16th districts and be represented by Sen. Jolie Justus. The redistricting commission approved the tentative Senate map by an 8-2 vote on Feb. 23. But a 15-day public comment period had to be held before the new map could be voted on for a second time. Seven votes were needed for final passage. The new district alignment has caused concerns for some local officials, who question how a senator can represent the area when they don’t live within the new district boundaries. They also question how a senator from an urban area can handle issues facing rural counties that make up the new district. “I don’t feel we will be served by someone that doesn’t know our needs,” Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage said. “We won’t be served for the next two years. She will be disconnected from us.” Northern District Commissioner Dan Hampson added: “Why do we have to be represented like this in the interim?” Justus was first elected to the Senate in 2006 and was re-elected in 2010. She will be able to fulfill the remaining two years of her four-year term despite not residing anywhere near the new 10th District. The 10th District that Justus, who is the assistant minority floor leader, currently represents encompasses a portion of Jackson County, including much of Kansas City and Grandview. Proponents to the new Senate map pointed out that the changes to some district boundaries lowered the population difference between the largest and smallest districts from 8.5 percent to 9.6 percent. Opponents, meanwhile, had urged the redistricting commission to reconsider the map. A lawsuit filed two weeks ago argued the new map favored urban voters at the expense of rural voters. When the first Senate redistricting map was presented in November, Warren County remained in the 26th District along with Franklin, Gasconade and Crawford counties. Currently, the 26th District consists of Warren and Franklin counties and part of western St. Louis County. The district is represented by Brian Nieves (R-Washington), who is in the second year of a four-year term. Under the Senate map finalized Monday, the 26th District will consist of Franklin County and a larger area of western St. Louis County. The area now represented by Justus would become the 7th District, which formerly was located on the eastern side of the state. But due to a population shift, the St. Louis area lost a Senate seat as part of the redistricting and the Kansas City area gained one. Redistricting occurs every 10 years following the census.