Minnesota joins growing list of states counting inmates at home instead of prisons for redistricting

Minnesota has joined a growing list of states that plan to count prisoners at their home addresses instead of at the prisons they’re located when drawing new political districts. Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz last week signed legislation that says last known addresses will be used for counting inmates, not the federal or state correctional facilities where they are housed. The law exempts unknown or out-of-state inmate addresses from redistricting. Eighteen states already have made similar changes to how prisoners are counted during the once-a-decade census. Most, but not all of the states, are controlled by Democrats and have large urban centers.