The Town of Merrillville’s Clerk-Treasurer intends to sue the town unless the Town Council doesn’t take another vote on whether to keep the Town Court open.
Clerk-Treasurer Eric January believes he was denied the right to break a tie last month when the council voted on first reading to re-establish the town court after a years-long fight. The council voted at the May 14 meeting 3-3-1, with Councilwomen Shauna Haynes-Edwards, D-2, Leona Chandler, D-3, and Marge Uzelac, D-4, voting for the measure; and Councilmen Rick Bella, D-5, and Shawn Pettit, D-6, and Councilwoman Keesha Hardaway, D-7, voting against it.
“As has been acknowledged by the State Board of Accounts and AIM, the final legal determination on this matter rests with me, the town attorney. I stand by my legal opinion as being accurately discerning facts and analyzing the most current statutes and secondary case-law authority,” Svetanoff said. “It appears we are destined to litigate this matter. Let me make this clear: This is not an attempt to strip the power of the Clerk-Treasurer.
“In this case, I was one of the elected members. I was entitled to vote, and you denied me that right, so on that basis, unless we vote on that measure today, we will be going to court to settle it, and we’re going to be setting a precedent for the whole state of Indiana because there’s no way I’m going to allow that to stand.”The closing of the town court has been dragging on for more than four years.
The matter came up again in August 2022 when the Town Council planned to discuss closing the court September 30, 2022 at a Town Council meeting. The item was met with blowback from the community, and attorneys for Lake County Clerk Mike Brown filed a motion enjoining his office to Velazco’s suit.
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