BRADENTON, Fla. – An attorney for Jefferson County, Ala., requested that the chief judge of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta schedule the county's bankruptcy case for oral arguments as soon as possible.
The matter has been tentatively set for a hearing seven times in the past 10 months only to be removed from the calendar, Kenneth Klee, with Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP, said in a Nov. 4 letter to the court.
The most recent scheduling of the case was on Oct. 12, when the appellate court tentatively set arguments for Jan. 23.
It was remove from the calendar 12 days later, and has not been rescheduled.
"The county would appreciate the assistance of the Chief Judge of the Circuit, the Circuit Executive, or the Clerk of the Court in facilitating the definitive scheduling of oral argument in this matter," Klee wrote.
The appeals court ruled on Jan 12, 2016 that oral arguments would be necessary in the case brought by Jefferson County, which is appealing a district court ruling concerning the county's Chapter 9 bankruptcy plan of adjustment.
Attorneys for a group of local sewer system ratepayers, who appealed the plan of adjustment, wrote a letter Nov. 7 to the appellate court reiterating that they do not believe oral argument is necessary.
"It is very unusual to have this many delays and I have expressed my frustration to counsel," Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens said in September. "Our team is ready and eager to have our day in court."
Jefferson County exited bankruptcy in December 2013, after selling $1.8 billion in sewer warrants to write down $1.4 billion of the sewer system's debt.
The plan of adjustment gives bondholders the right to go back to the bankruptcy court if the county fails to enact sewer system rate increases that service the debt.
The ratepayers appealed the plan to the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Alabama, and the case was assigned to Judge Sharon Blackburn.
County attorneys argued that the appeal should be struck down because it became moot when the plan of adjustment was implemented with the sale of new debt.
Blackburn, in an October 2014 ruling, rejected the county's mootness argument and said that she could consider whether portions of the plan are constitutional.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to hear the county's appeal of Blackburn's ruling in April 2015.
