SPRINGFIELD -- Take one look at the shape of U.S. Rep. Phil Hare's congressional district and you might be scared.

After all, the boundaries of the Rock Island Democrat's 17th district look like a sinister claw, reaching down from the Quad Cities and hooking around Springfield and Decatur.

For many, Hare's district is emblematic of everything that is wrong with the way Illinois draws its political boundaries.

Rather than let a computer create a map that equally distributes voters in a compact and geographically sensible manner, opponents say the current system allows politicians to create districts that favor their own re-election.

"It allows entrenched power to stay in power," said state Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon.

In hearings around the state this fall, a panel of state senators is hearing ways to change a process that can ultimately dictate who controls the General Assembly and the U.S. Congress.

The next hearing will take place at noon Tuesday in Carbondale at Southern Illinois University's Morris Library.

Under the state constitution, boundaries for seats in Congress and the Illinois House and Senate are redrawn every 10 years to reflect changes in population. Just as in 2000, Illinois is expected to lose a congressional district because of population gains made in other states.

The remapping exercise is supposed be bipartisan, but has often ended up with the majority party controlling the process.

Members of Gov. Pat Quinn's reform commission recommended a process in which the party affiliation of voters can't be used in creating the boundaries. Others have suggested all districts adhere more to current county boundary lines.

Righter, the ranking Republican member of the redistricting panel, says the General Assembly should not be in charge of drawing the map.

"That's like the proverbial mouse guarding the cheese," Righter said.

He also agrees that party affiliation should not be considered by mapmakers. And, he said the home addresses of incumbent lawmakers should not be considered as a factor.

State Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, is chairing the panel. He is not sure that placing limits on what can be considered by mapmakers is a good idea.

Raoul points to his own state Senate district, which runs along the shore of Lake Michigan. "It absolutely does make sense," Raoul said. "Lakes aren't cut in squares. Rivers don't run in straight lines."

The 17th district, Raoul says, could be considered similarly, since it covers a mix of rural and urban territory, including Rock Island and small parts of Springfield and Decatur.

Among the tasks undertaken by the committee is a review of what other states do when it comes to drawing district boundaries.

Raoul said none of them has been proven to be better or worse than Illinois.

"Nobody's got it perfect," he said.

In 2000, Illinois was set to lose one of its 20 congressional district seats. In order to give both parties an equal shot, the map-makers drew boundaries that would split to delegation in half and leave one district for two incumbents to fight it out.

That district was the 19th, located in southern Illinois, and pitted Democratic U.S. Rep. David Phelps of Eldorado against Republican John Shimkus of Collinsville. Shimkus won.

The once-Republican 14th district, held for years by former U.S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, was won by Democrat Bill Foster. Former U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller's seat, stretching from Will County to Bloomington-Normal, went to Democratic hands when Debbie Halvorson took over after the 2008 election.

Righter believes Democrats will try to stymie reform efforts. "The people who are in control right now don't want to see a change," he said.

Raoul said he's not made up his mind about how a final proposal will look, but said he has run across some examples of map-making that should be stopped.

For example, in the 2002 redistricting process, Republicans drew a small notch into the 11th district boundaries, putting Weller's parents' home in the district.

Said Raoul, "Stuff like that is ridiculous."