CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The maps aren't out yet, but Kanawha County residents can expect a few sure things when lawmakers redraw Statehouse district lines later this summer.

Population loss means the county will lose a state Senate district. Borders for the areas served by House of Delegates members will have to be tweaked. And the debate over single-member House districts will continue.

Lawmakers expect Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, acting as governor, to call a special session on redistricting in early August. The Legislature must change district borders -- both for Statehouse and congressional districts -- to account for population changes since the 2000 census.

West Virginia has 58 House districts divided among 100 members. The 17 Senate districts are each served by two members.

Kanawha County has 11 state delegates. Three House districts lie within the county: the seven-member 30th -- the largest multimember district in the nation -- the single-member 31st and the three-member 32nd.

Four senators now serve the county in two Senate districts, the 8th and the 17th.

Combined, those two Senate districts have lost more than 7,000 people since 2000, bringing the total population to about 193,000, according to census figures.

"They've lost population to the point where there's no way of maintaining two senatorial districts solely in Kanawha," said Senate Majority Leader John Unger, a Berkeley County Democrat heading the Senate's redistricting committee.

"There's going to be a definite line that'll go through Kanawha, that people on one side will have a Senate district, and people on the other side will have a Senate district," Unger said.

Lawmakers are working behind the scenes on potential maps. Citizen suggestions for changes are posted to the Legislature's website, but lawmakers haven't released their own drafts.

Sen. Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, said there will probably be one Senate district entirely in Kanawha County and another that lies in both Kanawha and a surrounding county.

"I think the most likely scenarios are either Putnam or Boone [counties]," he said. "Those are the two that I'm hearing."

As far as the House, the 31st District will not see any dramatic changes, said Delegate Meshea Poore, who represents the area.

It has lost about 1,700 people over the past decade, census figures show.

The district will have to pick up about a precinct and a half -- likely from North Charleston or the West Side hill area -- to make up for the population loss, said Poore, a Democrat.

"It won't be a large shift," Poore said. "It won't be that far of an expansion, but it will be enough to get our numbers back, and to be able to serve them well."

The 31st is West Virginia's only "minority influence" district, created to ensure that minorities have a voice in the Legislature.

House Minority Leader Tim Armstead said the entire Kanawha delegation hopes it can keep 11 House seats for the county. Because of population loss, the 32nd District would have to pick up a few precincts, possibly from areas that straddle two districts, such as Nitro.

Armstead serves the district with two other Republicans.

"We believe strongly that we've been effective representatives as a group," he said. "At the same time, we believe as a principle that single-member districts are the best route to go, so we would support adopting those in every district."

Last week, House Majority Leader Brent Boggs, a Braxton County Democrat who chairs the House committee on redistricting, said 100 single-member districts are unlikely.

Much of the debate over multimember districts has focused on the 30th District, where six Democrats and one Republican hold seats.

Many believe Republican candidates would benefit from more single-member districts.

Democrats who hold the seats have said they think the current setup is serving citizens well. Those who back multimember districts also say women are more likely to be represented.

Since early July, the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce has been running radio and TV ads in support of single-member districts, said President Steve Roberts. The group plans to advertise in newspapers, too, as the special session gets closer.

Roberts said the chamber's support of single-member districts is simply a matter of "good government."

He and other proponents of such districts say they would make lawmakers more accountable to constituents and ensure that representatives live close to the voters.

In the 30th District, all members now live in either Charleston or South Charleston.

Running in a race for a single-member district also would be cheaper, he said.

Single-member House districts were the main topic at a Kanawha County public forum on redistricting last month.

Still, Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said he hasn't seen "any real great public furor" over single-member districts.

"It's the officeholders, the political insiders, the politicos, the party activists, who generally get angst over this," said Carper, a Democrat.

Carper said it wouldn't bother him if there were more single-member districts but suggested that supporters of such districts are being disingenuous about their motives.

"My argument with the whole bunch is they aren't telling the truth," he said. "None of them will concede one inch that they're doing it for a partisan benefit, that they're doing it to protect their large special interests."

Those who favor the current system also have an obvious political stake in maintaining that setup, he said.

In the end, Carper said, the whole debate comes down to "controlling the legislative process."

Reach Alison Knezevich at alis...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.