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The Alabama Supreme Court says impeachment hearings can proceed against Gov. Robert Bentley, who is fighting to stay in office amid fallout from an affair with a top aide.

The justices issued their ruling Saturday. A circuit judge had blocked the hearings, which are scheduled to begin Monday.

Jack Sharman, the special counsel in the impeachment probe, says the House Judiciary Committee is free to proceed with the hearings.

The governor's legal team went to court Friday to block the impeachment procedures as tensions escalated between the Republican governor and Republican-controlled Legislature.

The governor's lawyers argued the process was unfair to Bentley, while Sharman said impeachment proceedings were a legislative matter outside the court's jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court asked both sides to file briefs by Monday morning.