Topeka ? Democrats filed a legal motion Monday that said newly redrawn congressional districts were unconstitutional because they split Lawrence between two districts.

“We feel very strongly that Lawrence ought to stay whole. It’s time we stop treating Lawrence like a Ping-Pong ball,” said Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka.

Under the motion filed in federal court, the Democrats recommend adoption of a redistricting map that would keep Lawrence whole in the 3rd congressional district along with the Kansas City metropolitan area.

To make room for keeping Lawrence in the 3rd, the plan would put several suburban Johnson County cities in the 2nd District.

During the recently completed legislative session, lawmakers approved and Gov. Bill Graves signed into law a map that would divide Lawrence, placing the area west of Iowa Street in the 2nd District and the area east of Iowa in the 3rd.

“It is a needless split,” said Rep. Troy Findley, D-Lawrence.

Lawmakers redraw congressional boundaries every 10 years to equalize the size of districts by using new population counts from the census.

The redistricting dispute landed before U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson of Topeka because of a challenge from the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.

Atty. Gen. Carla Stovall said the map was unconstitutional because it placed Junction City in a different district from neighboring Fort Riley army post. Stovall submitted another map that would keep Junction City, Fort Riley and Manhattan together in the 2nd District.

But her plan also split the city of Lawrence between the 2nd and 3rd districts.

Democrats say it is inconsistent to claim it is illegal to split Junction City from Fort Riley but that it is legally acceptable to split Lawrence.

Attorney Bob Eye of Lawrence, who filed the motion on behalf of Democrats to intervene in the action before Robinson, said the Lawrence split was done for political reasons. The 3rd District is represented by U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, the only Kansas Democrat in Congress. The congressional redistricting process was dominated by Republicans who held significant majorities in the Legislature.

“This is an obvious attempt to divide a pocket of Democratic Party strength. I’m not a Democrat, but the majority has to recognize the rights of the political minority,” Eye said.

Eye said he was an independent.

A scheduling conference Monday in the case was closed to the media. Robinson set a deadline of June 17 for all potential interveners in the case to file legal briefs, and a tentative date of July 1 to have a hearing in the case. The filing deadline for congressional candidates is June 24. Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh said because of the legal uncertainties surrounding the issue, the deadline might be postponed.

The Democrats filed their motion to intervene on behalf of Tim Graham, who serves as Hensley’s special assistant on redistricting. Graham lives in Lawrence but is not registered to vote there. He said he would change his voter registration immediately.