The Third Circuit Court of Appeal ruled Friday afternoon in favor of the Lafayette City-Parish Council in a lawsuit stemming from a Dec. 8 Home Rule Charter election.

The court ruled 2-1 against businessman Keith Kishbaugh and Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin and in favor of the council, which adopted an ordinance in March to correct inadvertent errors in boundary descriptions for new city council districts created with the Dec. 8 charter election.

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Lane Roy, the attorney for Kishbaugh, said Friday he'll ask the appeals court to reconsider its decision and expects to ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to review the case.

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Kishbaugh and Ardoin appealed a May decision by 15th Judicial District Judge John Trahan that the council could correct errors in new city council district boundaries with an ordinance instead of going back to the public for a vote.

Attorneys for Kishbaugh and Ardoin argued that the new council districts were created with a vote of the people to amend the home rule charter, so the people must vote to correct errors in the district boundary descriptions.

Attorneys for the council and six residents among 330 in one precinct left out of the new council districts, argued the council has the authority to reapportion districts, not the public.

"The trial court reasoned that the plaintiff and the Secretary of State failed to carry their burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the ordinance was an unconstitutional amendment to the amended charter rather than a valid reapportionment. We agree," Appeals Court Judge Sylvia Cooks wrote.

Cooks and Judge D. Kent Savoie ruled in favor of the council.

Judge John Saunders disagreed, writing the home rule charter, like the constitution, is the supreme law. Voters Dec. 8 voted to amend the charter, therefore any changes must be made by another vote of the people, he wrote.

Roy said he believes a supreme court review can be done by July 22, which is the deadline to prepare district boundaries before qualifying begins Aug. 6 for the Oct. 12 election.

Ardoin's office said Friday afternoon no decision has been made on asking the Louisiana Supreme Court to hear the case.

In a comment submitted to The Acadiana Advocate on Friday by his press secretary, Ardoin said, "From the beginning, this issue has been about ensuring all citizens in Lafayette have districts in which to qualify for office and vote. I have no interest in keeping the citizens in Lafayette in limbo and will follow the court ruling by implementing the ordinance as a fix to the council districts."

The Secretary of State's Office has been withholding voter rolls from Lafayette City Council candidates until the district boundary issue was resolved. Ardoin previously said the lists would be withheld until the deadline of Aug. 1.

His press secretary, Tyler Brey, said in an email Friday, "The new council districts should be fully implemented in the next two weeks. We will make voter lists available as soon as we feel comfortable the districts are implemented correctly and accurately."

Lafayette attorney Gary McGoffin, representing six residents of a precinct inadvertently omitted from the city council district descriptions, said Friday they are grateful the appeals court expedited its hearing and decision of the case and denied Ardoin's request to delay the election.

"Whether you voted yes or no in December, it’s easy to see that this is just purely politically motivated and it’s time to drop it," said Kevin Blanchard of the Fix the Charter movement that pushed for separate councils for the city of Lafayette and parish of Lafayette.

Blanchard said the continued challenges to the Dec. 8 vote are wasting taxpayer money.

"I think it’s beyond time for everybody who didn’t want this to pass in first place to just move on," he said. "Come January there will be a new city council and a new parish council. They will have very different responsibilities, both super important jobs. The longer we spend on this fool’s errand of these frivolous lawsuits, the longer it's going to take us to get to the real work that has to be done."