A Baton Rouge judge has set a February court date to hear the first batch of issues in the lawsuit over the proposed city of St. George’s right to incorporate.
Following a scheduling conference with attorneys this morning in his chambers, 19th Judicial District Court Judge William Morvant set a Feb. 24 hearing date—Lundi Gras—on exceptions filed earlier this month by St. George attorney Sheri Morris. She claims three of the four plaintiffs suing her clients, St. George organizers Norman Browning and Chris Rials, lack the legal standing to sue.
The plaintiffs in the case are Mayor Sharon Weston Broome, civic activist M.E. Cormier, Metro Council member Lamont Cole and attorney Lewis Unglesby. They sued Browning and Rials in early November, challenging the organizers’ ability to deliver promised municipal services in the proposed new city, which voters approved in October.
Though Morris did not file a legal answer to the challenges in the lawsuit, she did file exceptions claiming that, for various reasons, Broome, Cole and Cormier have no legal grounds to sue Browning and Rials.
She did not challenge the legal standing of Unglesby, who lives within the proposed footprint of St. George and joined the suit on the grounds that he would be adversely impacted if the incorporation is allowed to move forward.
The hearing on the exceptions will likely not last more than a day, according to attorney Mary Olive Pierson, who represents the plaintiffs in the case.
In the meantime, she intends to begin what will likely be a lengthy discovery process, seeking documents and information about St. George organizers’ financial plans for running the proposed new city.
There’s no word on when a trial date might be set.
