“This is why we have appellate courts,” said Dave Leipholtz, director of community-based studies for Better Together, a group that supported SB5 and has advocated for consolidating municipal governments in the region. “This decision kind of flies in the face of case law in the state of Missouri. We firmly believe there will be an appeal, and it will be successful.”

Bel-Nor Mayor Kevin Buchek, reached Monday night, said he also thought the case would be appealed, but that the ruling was “a great first step for us. When we filed this lawsuit we anticipated an appeal from whichever side was not victorious in initial proceedings.”

Green, the Normandy mayor, said the court ruling “reflects what we’ve said from the beginning: that (SB5) was reckless, and without regard for the current law.” He pointed to the state’s Hancock Amendment, which prohibits the state from placing a mandate on a municipality without any mechanism to fund it.

Green said he and others reached out to lawmakers to express those concerns before the bill became law “but nobody wanted to have that conversation.

“We had no choice but to file this suit and let the law stand,” he said. “I hope there is a better approach next time.”