Attendance at the City of Indianola’s annexation trial had been sparse back in the spring, but the eventual results of the litigation will be of great importance to the citizens.
A group of landowners are challenging the city’s plan to annex large swaths of property, mostly farmland, now located in the county east and west of Indianola.
The trial got underway quickly enough at the end of March, but litigation has grinded to a halt since April when court proceedings were stopped mid-testimony after one of the attorneys representing the city asked for a recess so that he could attend his son’s senior prom photo session.
Ninth Chancery Court Judge Debra Giles granted the recess with the understanding that the trial would likely resume the following week.
That did not happen.
This past Monday, testimony was set to start for the first time since April when all parties learned that the court reporter scheduled for that day reportedly had experienced an unexpected medical issue.
Court reporters are in high demand and are often hard to come by.
That is all the more reason why the court should have already had a backup in place this past Monday. It had three months to prepare for such an scenario.
Instead, the trial was delayed once again.
It was not known at press time what day testimony would restart. Hopefully it will happen sometime this month.
We are already in the fifth month of a trial where the final decision will likely have a huge impact on county landowners living and operating on the outskirts of the city, citizens who already reside in the city and local infrastructure.
Some trials have lasted longer, but we feel that this one reasonably could have been decided before summer.
