The Lafayette County judge hearing the lawsuit challenging Saline County’s classification has agreed to a request delaying the next hearing by two weeks.

Judge Kelly Ann Rose granted the request by attorneys for the Saline County Commission to push back the case review hearing previously scheduled for Oct. 20. The hearing will now take place Nov. 3 at 1 p.m. at the Saline County Courthouse in Marshall. According to court documents, a conflict stemming from a doctor’s appointment that could not be rescheduled precipitated the request from attorneys who are defending the Commission in the Saline County Assessor’s suit seeking a declaratory judgment that Saline County is no longer a fourth-class county and should instead be classified third-class. The assessor and her attorneys did not object to the requested delay.

The Nov. 3 hearing is also expected to consider a request from Lafayette County’s commission seeking to intervene on behalf of the Saline County Commission.