The five-judge redistricting panel appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court released an outline Thursday. All parties must have their proposed maps to the court next month. The court will then have a hearing on the plans in January.

The Associated Press reports the court panel assigned with redrawing the state's political boundaries won't rule until late February -- a point where the Republican Congresswoman should know if its time to abandon her presidential campaign if her placement in the polls don't improve.

Many observers speculate a five-judge panel will release the new legislative and congressional district maps next week. The court panel is now responsible for the maps because the GOP-controlled legislature and DFL Gov. Mark Dayton failed to agree on the new maps. Redistricting is required every 10 years to keep nearly the same number of people in each district.

Republicans and DFLers have this week to finish their suggestions for how to draw new Minnesota's new Congressional and legislative maps. They'll turn them in to a court-appointed panel that's expected to finish the redistricting process in a couple of months.

A special court panel will likely have to decide how to redraw the districts because Dayton and Republican legislators probably won't agree on a plan. Every 10 years the state redraws the boundaries to account for population changes in the Census.

Forum Communications reports candidates may be raising some money now, but are ultimately waiting to see how districts shake up after the new political maps are completed in February before tossing their hat into the ring.

Some residents are telling a panel that it makes no sense to lump both cities in the same legislative district. The population of the St. Cloud area and the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities have grown much faster than most of other parts of the state in the past decade, which means political districts in the area must be redrawn.

State lawmakers had until Friday to file their proposals for the state's redistricting. A key feature of the DFL plan is a pairing of current representatives, Democrat Betty McCollum and Republican Michele Bachmann, into the same district.