Senate Majority Leader John Unger, the committee's chairman, said the task force aims to have proposals ready for an expected special redistricting legislative session in early August. The panel also has the last of 11 public meetings in the region scheduled for July 21 in Princeton.

Unger said residents of Wayne and Monongalia counties have requested changes that would unify each county. Each is currently divided among three districts, he said.

"I don't know if we can get to one, but we maybe can get to two,'' said Unger, D-Berkeley. The Senate must have 17 two-seat districts.

Unger said the task force also fielded comments for and against moving Mason County from the state's 2nd Congressional District to its 3rd. The 2nd District, represented by Republican Shelley Moore Capito, already stretches from the Ohio River to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Districts should be compact, Unger said, citing federal standards.

But Mason County residents have also questioned whether they have much in common with the 3rd District, represented by Democrat Nick Rahall and dominated by the southern coalfields, Unger added.

"We have to make sure that we balance all of these interests. That's our challenge,'' he said.

Other expected changes include carving Kanawha County into two separate state Senate districts, one of which would include one or more neighboring counties. The state's most populous county and home to the state capital, Kanawha now has two districts that completely overlap.

More generally, the southern coalfield districts will watch their district boundaries grow and overall seats decline, while the Eastern Panhandle will see the reverse, Unger said.

"Those senators down there that understand that area the best will come up with a proposal that I'm confident will do what's best, given the numbers,'' Unger said. "I also believe the people will help balance them, and check them. They're going to be pressured by their own constituents to do the right thing.''

The 2010 Census is prompting changes to the state's legislative and congressional districts. Only five of the Senate's 17 current districts contain populations within 5 percent of the ideal size of 109,000 residents. As for the U.S. House districts, the 1st is within 1 percent of the ideal size of 617,665 people while the 2nd has 30,521 residents too many and the 3rd District has nearly 29,000 too few.

Unger said the task force's meetings have helped inform southern residents who initially challenged the census results as flawed.

"What I've said is, we have to deal with what we're given,'' Unger said. "We can't as a state arbitrarily say that the numbers are wrong...That will end us up in court, and we'll lose.''

The House recently launched a 30-member redistricting committee, which held its first meeting earlier this month. Unger said the Senate task force has since heard fewer comments regarding whether all 100 House seats should be within its own district. While 36 delegates now represent single-seat districts, 22 are in two-seat districts and the rest are in districts with more. The largest is the seven-seat 30th District, representing parts of Kanawha County including much of Charleston.

"I encourage them to talk to the House members because there are the ones who will be dealing directly with that, not us,'' Unger said.

While half the Senate serves on the task force, Unger said any member can propose a redistricting map. As chairman, Unger said he does not intend to draft his own.

Considering the statewide series of meetings a success, Unger said the public can continue to comment. Both the Senate and House panels have devoted web pages on the Legislature's website to provide redistricting resources and allow for feedback. Unger said that like the regional hearings, the task force's drafting meeting will be public as well any plans presented at them.

"I want to set the bar pretty high so 10 years from now, people will look back and try to set the bar even higher in terms of transparency,'' Unger said.