By Billy Davis

Steve Hale remains Panola County’s representative in the Mississippi Senate even after redistricting by Republicans carved up the county and pushed him out.

Hale, a Democrat, reminded Panola Countians last week that legislators will remain in their current districts during the current term. That terms ends in 2015.

“Please let people know that I’m still their state senator representing them in Jackson,” Hale told The Panolian last week.

The 2013 term of the Mississippi legislature begins today when the House and Senate convene at noon.

The Panolian reported last May that the Republican-led Mississippi Senate was carving Panola County into three senate districts instead of one, with one Democrat and two Republicans taking in new territory.
The state senators are Robert Jackson of Marks, Grey Tollison of Oxford, and Lydia Chassaniol of Montgomery County, which is three counties south of Panola.

Hale announced last September that he would remain Panola County’s state senator through 2015, citing the Mississippi Constitution. The document states that after apportionment, lawmakers will continue to serve their districts until the next regular election.

Hale, of Senatobia, currently represents District 10 after winning a hard-fought race in 2011 against Vann Branch, a Republican candidate.

District 10 currently covers Panola and Tate counties. Under the new plan, the boundary lines retreat north out of Panola and instead include most of Marshall County.

Panola County is currently represented in the state legislature by one state senator and three state representatives: Rep. Joe Gardner, Rep. Nolan Mettetal, and Rep. Clara Burnett.

Gardner, a Democrat from Batesville, was re-elected last November without drawing an opponent. He has served since 2007.

Mettetal, of Sardis, once sat in the senate seat occupied by Hale. The then-state senator announced in May 2011 he would not seek re-election to the state senate, when it appeared redistricting would make the seat a plumb target for Democrats while Mettetal was a Republican.

Mettetal instead ran for the District 10 house seat and won.

The house seat occupied by Burnett, a Democrat, includes five counties, which include a sliver of northwestern Panola County.