U.S. Rep. William "Lacy" Clay, D-St. Louis and chairman of the House panel dealing with the soon-to-be-underway national census, announced today that he has reached an agreement with the U.S. Census Bureau on how to count those incarcerated in state and federal prisons.

The Census Bureau has agreed to count the prisoners earlier, so they can be counted as part of the population of their home turf. That could affect the redistricting process for legislatures and members of Congress.

Previously, said Clay, the prisoners were counted "only after states had finished their redistricting. That resulted in mostly rural districts with prisons getting extra representation in their Legislatures."

Clay contended that the earlier method credited the primarily urban prison population to the rural areas where the prisons were located.

The congressman, indicated however, that it will be up to legislatures and local governments to decide whether to count the prisoners as part of their home population. They could ignore the census data on prisoners' home towns. That could set up political battles, especially in legislatures like Missouri's, where rural legislators often hold leadership positions.

Under Missouri law, special commissions are set up to redraw the legislative lines, so -- in theory -- the commissions could choose to use the census prison information in drawing those lines.

Clay -- chairman of the House Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census & National Archives -- also potentially has a stake in this decision. The lines of Missouri's congressional districts are to be redrawn after this latest census. And that IS done by the Missouri Legislature.

Missouri also is in danger of losing one of its nine seats, and members of the GOP-dominated Legislature have made clear they hope to take that lost seat out of the St. Louis area. That could pit Clay against U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis. 

So, if the Missouri Legislature chooses to use the Census Bureau's prison data, it could affect congressional line-drawing. However, those close to Clay say he did not have the congressional districts in mind when the deal was struck.

He said in a statement, "I want to commend U.S. Census Director Dr. Robert Groves and his staff for acting to improve accuracy, restore fairness and reverse historic patterns of injustice that have been applied to prisoners for many years."

"The impact of this decision is enormous. States and local governments will now have the opportunity to do the right thing and prevent the overrepresentation of areas where prisons are located."

He hit on his key assertion: "The prison population in this country is made up of a disproportionate number of African Americans and Latinos," said Mr. Clay. "The Census is now giving state and local governments an opportunity to stand up for fairness and justice. I encourage them to take full advantage of this decision."