The Indiana Court of Appeals has rejected an appeal from Monroe County residents opposed to annexation by the City of Bloomington; the three-judge panel upheld a trial court’s ruling denying them a second remonstrance period.
The panel unanimously denied County Residents Against Annexation’s appeal Friday.
Petitioners against annexation filed a lawsuit in March challenging the city’s annexation of areas 1A and 1B, which are outside the southwest end of Bloomington’s current city limits.
Read more: City of Bloomington sues to nullify state's 2019 annexation law
As part of the lawsuit, petitioners asked for a second 90-day period to collect remonstrance signatures beyond the original period that ran from October 2021 to January 2022. Petitioners wanted extra time due to the pandemic.
Lawrence Circuit Court Judge Nathan Nikirk, who presided over the case as a special judge, denied the petitioners’ request. He rejected their claim that COVID-19 prevented them from filing petitions with the Monroe County Auditor.
Afterward, petitioners asked the state appeals court to review Nikirk’s order.
Read more: Five of seven areas void Bloomington annexation; process not over
The city maintained the lawsuit is invalid due to a lack of remonstrance petitions and defective filings. The city argued signatory petitions were untimely, improperly notarized and ineligible.
By rejecting the petitioners’ appeal, the panel of judges upheld the originally scheduled trial date of Nov. 13.
The city began annexation in 2017 and planned to complete the legal process the same year, but the Indiana General Assembly suspended the process through the 2017 state budget bill. The state supreme court later declared the suspension unconstitutional.
