Suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore could have his trial on ethics charges Sept. 28 depending on what happens at a hearing next week before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary, the chief judge of that court has ordered.

Moore was suspended in May when the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) leveled judicial ethics charges against him.

Michael Joiner, the chief judge of the Court of the Judiciary, stated in an order Monday that both the attorneys for the JIC and Moore are to be prepared for a pretrial hearing at the conclusion of an Aug. 8 hearing on the summary-judgment motions by both sides.

Moore has asked the Court of the Judiciary for a summary judgment ruling and dismissal of the ethics charges against him. The JIC, however, has also asked for summary judgment in its favor and the removal of Moore from the bench immediately without a trial.

Joiner stated in his order that if there is a need to hold a trial after deciding on the summary judgment motions, then it would be held on Sept. 28.

The charges filed by the JIC surround Moore's administrative order Jan. 6 to Alabama probate judges stating that the Alabama Supreme Court Order of March 2015 that told probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples was still in place and had never been rescinded. Moore has said he wasn't telling probate judges to defy the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2015 ruling that legalized gay marriage nationwide.