The Mississippi Supreme Court denied two petitions for interlocutory appeal in the Gluckstadt incorporation case.
The Gluckstadt incorporation case was split into two trials.
The first trial served to determine that Gluckstadt had the correct number of signatures required to move forward with the case.
Chancery Judge James Walker’s judgement in March found that Gluckstadt had the correct number of signatures from qualified electors in the proposed area.
Mac Haik and the City of Canton filed interlocutory appeals, which is an appeal to a ruling made before the trial itself has concluded.
Gluckstadt was required to have signatures from two-thirds of the qualified electors. The appeal petitions claimed that the signatures were gathered from an incomplete voter roll.
The Mississippi Supreme Court denied these appeals.
John Scanlon, an attorney for the incorporation of Gluckstadt, said that the Mississippi Supreme Court’s ruling was simply limited to not allowing interlocutory appeal at this stage.
The petition for incorporation was filed on Feb. 1, 2017.
When the incorporation papers were filed, more than 73 percent of registered voters in the proposed city of Gluckstadt signed in support of the plan.
Mississippi law requires that 66 percent of registered voters in the area sign.
The case will go to trial the first week of February 2019, roughly two years after the petition for incorporation was filed. According to Scanlon, this trial will have to do with all other fact and legal issues involved in incorporating, such as police and fire protection.
The trial was originally scheduled for August 2018. However, due to appeals, the date was pushed back.
If Gluckstadt is incorporated, Walter Morrison will serve as mayor, and aldermen will include Miya Bates, Krisstel Hunt, Jayce Powell, Stephen Snell and Lisa Williams. Chris Watson serves as City Planner.
The proposed city limits will include several Madison County subdivisions, such as Ridgefield, Arrington, Red Oak, Bear Creek, Wildwood, Germantown, Panther Creek and Bradshaw Ridge.
The area takes in approximately 11.1 square miles.
