The legal fight over whether St. George gets to become an actual city will likely play out in the spring — more than two years after voters in southeastern East Baton Rouge Parish said "yes" to incorporating the controversial municipality.
Tentative trial dates have been set in April and May, depending on various circumstances, including travel plans for one of the attorneys representing the defense in the case and whether a judge appointed in the wake of William Morvant's retirement feels confident enough by then to hear arguments in what is sure to be a contentious court battle.
One on side, there's Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome and Council Pro Tem LaMont Cole trying to block the creation of what could become the fifth city in the parish. They assert the proposed majority-White city of more than 80,000 people would have negative financial impacts on the city-parish.
The latest round of annexations within the proposed boundaries of the city of St. George moved forward Wednesday, with a hospital and several …
On the other side, proponents are pushing for a new municipality as means to setting up a new school district and gaining more control over how some of their tax dollars are spent. The proposed city's budget would be built on sales tax revenue generated within its boundaries.
The judge assigned to the case won't be around.
"His retirement is not a factor in the delays with this case," attorney Mary Olive Pierson, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs.
Morvant in November announced his retirement from the seat he's held in the 19th Judicial District Court since 1997. His retirement means the Louisiana Supreme Court in January will appoint an ad hoc judge to preside over the cases on Morvant's docket until a special election can take place, likely in March, to fill the remaining time on his term.
Attorneys in the lawsuit seeking to block the St. George incorporation effort have accused organizers of not cooperating with recent depositio…
According to the timeline proponents posted on the St. George movement's Facebook page, Morvant has set trial dates for either April 4 or May 2 of next year.
Pierson said Morvant did give both sides the option to have him appoint a commissioner to hear the arguments in the case and then make a recommendation to the judge regarding a ruling.
"We said both sides can pay equally to do that," she said. "The St. George people were fine with a commissioner but said 'we're not paying any money.' They didn't want to pay their fair share, which is typical of them."
Drew Murrell, spokesperson for the St. George movement, said it had more to do with not wanting to add an extra layer to the already prolonged case since any commissioner who heard the initial arguments would still have to get a judge to agree to whatever recommendation he or she made, and there's no guarantee Morvant's replacement would agree with it.
"For us, the scenario is kind of in limbo," Murrell said. "We're waiting for the ad hoc, then the election, with the idea the new judge can get up to speed and hear the matter in the spring."
The trial won't likely be the end. Both sides have indicated they intend to appeal all the way up to the state's highest court before giving up. That means it could be another three or more years before St. George officially becomes a city, or not.
"When the facts come out, folks are gonna look around and wonder why we dragged this out so long," Murrell said.
New filings circulating among attorneys involved in the lawsuit over the creation of a new city of St. George within East Baton Rouge Parish o…
