Court's decision on town case nowhere in sight

January 1, 2004

BY JAMES LEE
THE JOURNAL

    A little over a year ago, attorney Trent Kernodle and his team of lawyers had just completed two intensive days presenting the case of the town of James Island before Circuit Court Judge Thomas Hughston.
    Despite Hughston's ruling that the formation of the town was unconstitutional because it used "special legislation," an appeal to the S.C. Supreme Court was made and has kept the case alive.
    Now, Kernodle continues to wait for a hearing on the case. But the ruling he hoped would arrive before the end of 2003 is still nowhere in sight.
    "As far as the town?" Kernodle asked. "(I have) no clue."
    Both Kernodle and and city asked for extra time in submitting legal briefs to the S.C. Supreme Court, which has affected the timeline of the appeal. "The S.C. Supreme Court usually takes time to ponder (the briefs) and then schedules a hearing," he said.
    Kernodle said he does expect the court to schedule an oral argument in coming weeks, although it is not required.
    "If I were to guess ­ and it would be a wild guess -- I would be surprised if (the hearing) would be before March," he said.
    Cases waiting to be heard by the court are many, and "every case is very important to the people that have it," he said.
    For now, the wait continues.
    "Once they have the oral arguments ... who knows when they'll actually rule," Kernodle said. "I would be surprised if we had an actual ruling by next summer."