Greene County Circuit Court Judge J. Ronald Carrier rejected former Carthage Mayor Dan Rife's request for an emergency writ of prohibition that would put him back in office but will hold a trial sometime before the end of the year to determine if the City Council acted legally when it impeached Rife October 29.
Carrier said Rife had "failed to establish unequivocally that an extreme necessity for preventative action exists."
In his petition filed in Jasper County Circuit Court the day after the impeachment hearing, Rife's lawyer, Christopher Thornton, St. Charles, claimed Rife could not be removed despite the 6-2 vote on four of the five counts against him because six is one short of the two-thirds majority of elected city council members required by the city code.
The City Council had 10 elected members earlier in the year, but council member Dustin Edge resigned recently, and David Armstrong resigned earlier in the year.
In his order, which was issued this afternoon, Judge Carrier asked attorneys on both sides to tell him within five days how much time they think the trial will take and what dates are available.
1 comment:
I’m no legal scholar, but doesn’t it stand to reason that if they eventually determine that the Mayor shouldn’t have been impeached in the first place, that means the current Council isn’t valid and has no authority. So that would mean that any decisions or contracts they may enter into would be null and void. Looking for legitimate answers here - not snarky armchair quarterbacks.
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