Oral arguments scheduled June 4 in federal appeals court will take up the issue of new supervisor districts in 11 Mississippi counties, including Warren.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in New Orleans.

Local-level branches of the NAACP filed lawsuits that sought to extend qualifying deadlines in Warren, Claiborne, Hancock, Madison, Simpson, Amite, Wayne, Adams, Copiah, Tunica and Tallahatchie counties until voting boundaries could be redrawn and based on 2010 census information.

In Warren, population shifts away from the City of Vicksburg prompted Districts 2 and 3 to grow geographically.

Mississippi’s census totals were released in February 2011. County officials said then and now they needed time to redraw districts to get the new boundaries approved by the federal government. In March, Warren County’s maps were approved by the Department of Justice, in keeping with federal voting rights law.

The NAACP says districts were improperly apportioned, diluting the voting strength of minorities. It’s unclear whether NAACP officials seek new elections or some other remedy if the court rules their way.

Lawyers for the counties argue shortened time frames within the state elections calendar precluded getting new lines drawn and approved.

Federal judges in Mississippi sided with the counties in decisions last year.