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Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Ind. Decisions - Transfer sought in fire district case; recusal of Chief Justice requested
The Court of Appeals' Sept.. 2nd opinion in the case of In Ronald Sanders, Paul Hardin, Dallas Kelp, et al. v. Board of Commissioners of Brown Co., In, et al. (see ILB entry here) is the subject of a lengthy story today by Rodney Marqison of the Brown County Democrat. The story reports that the attorney for the five plaintiffs is asking:
* * * the state's highest court to overturn the Indiana Court of Appeals decision upholding the September 2007 creation of the fire district by the county's Board of Commissioners.In addition, Mr. [Kurt] Young and his clients are asking that Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard recuse himself from the case, based on his participation as co-chair of the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform, committee established by Governor Mitch Daniels to research the streamlining of local government.
In their request, the plaintiffs cite a footnote in the original ruling by Special Judge Roderick D. McGillivray, the trial court judge in the case, that mentioned Chief Justice Shepard's role on a statewide committee that recommended transferring the fire service responsibilities from township trustees throughout the state to a county's executive and the creation of a countywide body to oversee public safety.
The plaintiffs add that Governor Daniels, through then-Fire Marshal Roger Johnson and others from within the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, have supported the creation of the Brown County Fire Protection District and question Chief Justice Shepard's ability to be impartial in this case, having served as an advocate for the governor's local government reform issues.
The question presented to the Supreme Court is whether or not the Court of Appeals erred when it upheld Judge McGillivray's decision that a county legislative body-specifically, the Board of Commissioners-can create a fire district without first being presented a petition signed by a freeholders within the proposed fire district requesting its establishment.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 8, 2008 09:11 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions