A scheduling conflict has resulted in another delay for the next hearing for the lawsuit challenging Saline County’s classification.

According to court records, Judge Kelly Ann Rose announced that she would not be available on Nov. 3, and moved the scheduled case review hearing to Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. at the Saline County Courthouse in Marshall. It’s the third delay to occur since the case was remanded back to Rose’s court since the Western District Court of Appeals ruled that the circuit court should hear Saline County Assessor Jessica Adcock-Goodman’s arguments that Saline County should be considered a third-class county instead of fourth class. The Saline County Commission and Collector Cindi Sims are the named defendants, with the Lafayette County Commission seeking to intervene on the defendants’ behalf.

An initial hearing in August was postponed after one of the attorneys went to the wrong courthouse. The case review had been initially rescheduled for October, but was delayed to Nov. 3 because of a doctor’s appointment involving one of the parties that could not be moved. When the review takes place in November, it will have been over three years since Goodman initially filed her lawsuit, and a year since arguments were presented before the Missouri Supreme Court when Goodman successfully challenged the case’s dismissal.