The Jackson County Commissioners hired a Florida-based legal defense organization Tuesday to represent the county in a lawsuit over whether a Nativity scene can be placed on the courthouse lawn.
That action was taken in response to a local resident who filed a lawsuit in federal court Dec. 28 asking the county not to display the Nativity scene during the holidays in coming years.
Commissioner Drew Markel’s motion during Tuesday’s meeting to hire Liberty Counsel received the support of Commissioners President Matt Reedy and Commissioner Bob Gillaspy.
The attorney’s name who will represent the county was not listed, but a signature line on the contract listed Anita L. Staver as president and general counsel for the nonprofit organization.
The retention of an attorney to represent the county was not listed on the agenda, but Markel moved to include it in the order of business at the beginning of the meeting. Markel said a few law firms had reached out to the county about representing it in the matter.
Liberty Counsel agreed to provide legal services to the county for free, according to the contract approved by commissioners. It also stipulates that if the county wins the lawsuit and fees are collected, the total would go to the organization.
After the vote, commissioners did not discuss the issue.
Calls to Liberty Counsel for comment were not immediately returned.
The move comes less than three weeks after county resident Rebecca Woodring filed a federal lawsuit saying the Nativity scene endorses a religion. Woodring is represented by Indianapolis attorney Kenneth Falk of the ACLU of Indiana.
Court documents did not specify where Woodring lives in the county, and attempts to contact her through her attorney were not successful.
According to court documents, Woodring contends she drives by the courthouse multiple times each week and is “forced to come into direct and unwelcome contact with the Nativity scene there” when it is displayed, which has caused her “irreparable harm.”
The Nativity scene includes a lighted Mary, Joseph, a manger, wise men, animals and angels. Falk wrote the display lacks a secular purpose and endorses the Christian faith.
The lawsuit followed a Dec. 13 letter where a local resident complained to Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation about the lit Nativity scene on the Jackson County Courthouse lawn. A photo taken by The Tribune during the Dec. 3 Brownstown Hometown Christmas event was submitted with the letter.
It’s unclear whether Woodring is the person who contacted the organization.
A rally was conducted Dec. 22 in support of the Nativity scene, where Reedy and Gillaspy attended. Officials moved a lit Santa Claus and carolers near the display in an effort to remedy the situation.
The lawsuit addressed that action and said it would not satisfy the complaint.
Liberty Counsel, which recently offered to defend a Nativity scene at the Hocking County Courthouse in Logan, Ohio, is the same firm that represented former Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk Kim Davis, who gained international attention in 2015 for refusing to issue a marriage license to same-sex couples.
The ACLU of Indiana has a similar case pending in Fulton County, where members of a service group there place a Nativity scene on the courthouse lawn each year. The Rochester Sentinel reports that lawsuit was filed Dec. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.
Fulton County is represented by Indianapolis-based law firm Barnes & Thornburg in that case, according to a report from the Sentinel.