ATLANTA - Legislative leaders are moving redistricting operations in-house and tapping a prominent Republican lawyer to advise the effort.

Redistricting, in which new Census data is used to redraw congressional and legislative lines, had been handled through a state contract with the University of Georgia's nonpartisan Carl Vinson Institute of Government.

But according to a memo obtained today by The Associated Press, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker David Ralston are creating a Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office. The office will be staffed by the same six employees from the Carl Vinson Institute. Ann Lewis, counsel to the state Republican Party, will provide legal guidance for the effort.