By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

TOPEKA -- A draft proposal put forward by the House Redistricting Committee would reshuffle existing House districts and nearly mirror one sketched out by a member who would see his district dramatically shift.

The draft proposal essentially does away with two districts -- currently held by Reps. Larry Powell and Tom Arpke -- folding them into Johnson County where population growth has been dramatic, according to Rep. Don Hineman, R-Dighton.

Both Powell and Arpke won't be seeking re-election to the House, instead pinning their election hopes on sitting senators hoping for re-election.

Hineman's 118th House District would change dramatically, becoming considerably more compact. He would give up all of Wallace and Logan counties, and most of Gove County, all of which would transfer to Rep. Rick Billinger's 121st District.

Billinger, R-Goodland, would give up Graham County, which would go to the 120th District, now held by Rep. Ward Cassidy, R-St. Francis.

Rep. Eber Phelps' 111th District essentially would cover much of the same area, save for losing a small slice of southwest Ellis County, and move into the eastern half of the county.

"As far as I know, my district will move east so it will include Victoria," Phelps said of the draft redistricting map.

The 110th District, now held by Rep. Dan Collins, R-Plainville, would pick up much of Barton County, moving Osborne County into the 109th District, now held by Rep. Clay Aurand, R-Courtland.

"My district changes quite a bit," Hineman said Tuesday. "It has to be that way to make everything work."

Hineman said he tried putting together his own redistricting plan and said it paralleled the plan developed by the House Redistricting Committee.

"I think most people are fairly comfortable with it," he said of the plan. "It's been a fairly impartial effort to put it together."

There are, he said, a few legislators grumbling, suggesting it unfairly targets their districts.

He lamented the loss of the two rural districts -- near Garden City in Powell's case and in Salina in Arpke's case -- but said the population increases have been in the Johnson County area.

Under the draft plan, the Wichita area would have 17 districts, Topeka would have five districts, and Wyandotte and Johnson counties would have 26 districts.

The Kansas House has 125 districts.

"I've always said if Wichita and Johnson County, if they got on the same page, they could do whatever they want," Phelps said of the balance of power tipping to the two regions of the state.

No state Senate redistricting plan has emerged. That chamber has been working almost exclusively on a congressional plan.

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Under the "Cottonwood 1" plan, as the draft plan is called, dramatic changes would occur in northwest Kansas House districts.

If approved, area districts would cover:

* 120th: Cheyenne, Rawlins, Decatur, Norton, Phillips and Graham counties.

* 121st: Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan, Wallace, Logan and most of Gove, except for the Quinter area.

* 118th: The Quinter area, all of Trego, Lane, Ness, Hodgeman, Rush and parts of Pawnee and Finney counties.

* 110th: All of Rooks and Russell counties, the northern two-thirds of Barton County and virtually all the rural areas in Ellis County.

* 111th: The district would remain almost identical, except for extreme southwest Ellis County, which would be folded into the 110th District.