With a divided assembly, proposed amendments to a controversial policy deciding who is allowed to give invocations before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly failed Tuesday evening, keeping the borough on a collision course with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Changes to the policy were voted down six to three. Assembly member Blaine Gilman said he believed the current invocation resolution is defensible in the face of a potentially costly lawsuit.

The borough was sued on Dec. 14 by the ACLU of Alaska, who called its recently passed policy as an “unconstitutional discriminatory test.”

Author to the amendments, assembly president Kelly Cooper, said the revisions were made in compromise in the face of litigation.

The invocation policy under scrutiny passed in 2016 after a Satanist invocation ending with the phrase “Hail Satan” was given on Aug. 9, stirring controversy among residents and borough leaders.

The amendment added language that would allow “individual residents of the Kenai Peninsula Borough who have a religious perspective or other interest or belief that is very important to them” to be scheduled for invocations. Traditional religious figures still would have been allowed to speak.

“[The amendment] adds the request that invocations be free from personal political views, sectarian, controversies, and absent any apologies for others,” wrote Cooper, in a previous memo advocating for her changes to the policy.

At the Jan. 3 assembly meeting, residents spoke out both for and against the amendments.

“This may be our final stab at this,” said assembly member Gary Knopp, noting the debate has been ongoing for eight years.

In preparation for litigation, the borough transferred $50,000 from the mayor’s department to the legal department.