The lawsuit challenging the classification of Saline County is once again on the back burner, after associate circuit court judge Kelly Ann Rose recused herself from the case.

During a brief case review Monday, Nov. 17 in Marshall, an attorney for Saline County Assessor Jessica Adcock Goodman objected to the request made by the Lafayette County Commission to intervene on behalf of the Saline County Commission.  Judge Rose, noting that she is an elected official in Lafayette County, issued a request for the Missouri Supreme Court to assign a new judge and recused herself.

It’s the latest delay in the three-year case challenging Saline County’s status as a fourth-class county, and the second time the case will require input from the state’s top court. Last year, the Supreme Court reversed Rose’s order to dismiss the case, where Goodman is arguing that state law requires a reclassification of Saline County as third class because the county’s total valuation no longer meets the threshold to remain in the fourth class. Currently, Saline is among four counties in Missouri that are in the fourth class, allowing them to operate as though it is a second class county despite not having the valuation to remain so. The classification was established by state law in the late 1980s. Goodman’s lawsuit argues that state law does not make the classification permanent, and that Saline, Pettis, Lafayette and Johnson counties are subject to the same criteria as Missouri’s other 110 counties. Commissioners argue that a reclassification would result in the loss of county offices and functions, most notably the elected auditor.

The next court date is pending assignment of the new judge.