The City of Edgerton recognizes and respects residents’ right to participate in local government, including the right to petition their government.
The City has asked the Johnson County District Court resolve a legal question concerning a citizen-led petition and the proposed ordinance associated with that petition. The following are some frequently asked questions about the case.
Kansas law establishes a process and deadlines for citizen petitions seeking the adoption of ordinances. The City has a legal obligation to follow this process.
After reviewing the proposed ordinance, the City raised legal objections to the proposed ordinance and believes it is not legally eligible to proceed. The City believes the proposed ordinance is administrative in nature rather than legislative and therefore cannot be adopted through the petition process under K.S.A. 12-3013. It also contains statements that are shown as “findings” of the City Council that were not made by the City Council, and regard agreements and actions that the City has no authority to make. If the ordinance is adopted, it cannot be changed for 10 years, and the City will have to defend lawsuits in court when someone challenges the ordinance or compensate for property or business losses in court.
The City is asking the court to resolve that question with a declaratory judgement on the validity of petition before moving forward with the process, rather than the City making the determination itself.
No.
The City is first simply asking the court to determine whether the proposed ordinance is legally eligible to proceed through the petition process established by Kansas law.
If deemed legally eligible by the Court, then the City Council will consider the ordinance at a future council meeting and decide to either (1) pass the petition ordinance as presented or (2) hold a special election for the residents of Edgerton to vote on the petition ordinance.
The City filed a civil court action for a declaratory judgement in district court and, as part of that process, named two individuals (Carrie Schmidt and Kim Twente) and The Public Trust Collective as the opposing parties. This is because Kansas law requires that people whose interests would be affected by the decision must be named. They were the primary individuals/organization that were behind the petition. They have an obvious interest in what happens in court and we wanted to make sure they were notified and involved in that process. They even had asked City Council who would represent their side during the court process. Anyone who signed the petition can also request that they be added if they would like to be heard in court.
Not at all.
The City’s court filing does not seek personal punishment or monetary damages against the petition organizers, or anyone signing the petition. The City is not asking for any financial compensation, attorneys fees or monetary damages. There is some statutory language about court costs in the filing, but that is standard and we do not believe the court would order those costs anyway.
The petition process has statutory deadlines. The City’s filing states that K.S.A. 12-3013 requires action within 90 days of consideration of a qualifying petition.
Because those deadlines could require the election process to move forward before the court has an opportunity to resolve the legal question, the City asked the court for a temporary restraint. This just maintains the status quo, it does not invalidate the petition process or ordinance.
The requested restraint would remain in place while the court considers the City’s request for a temporary injunction and the underlying legal issues.
The matter is now before the Johnson County District Court.
The court will consider the City’s requests and the arguments of the parties before determining how the matter should proceed.
Because this is pending litigation, the City will allow the court process to address the legal issues rather than debating the case through social media.
No. Residents have the right and are encouraged to express their opinions about City policies and to participate in their city government.
The City’s court action concerns the legal process for the proposed ordinance, not the identity or personal views of the people who signed or supported the petition.
The City understands that residents have questions and concerns about the court action.
However, because this is active litigation, the City will not litigate the case through social media or comment on statements made by individuals involved in the case. The City will provide factual information about the process and direct residents to the official court documents whenever possible.
Residents who want to understand the City’s legal position are encouraged to review the actual court filings rather than relying on social media summaries or statements from either side.
The City’s Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Temporary Injunction explains the City’s request to the court, including the legal issues and relief being requested.
For anyone who wants to follow the case directly, the court file is public record and available online. Go to https://casesearch.kscourts.gov/, and in the Select Search Type box, choose Case Number. Enter JO-2026-CV-002080 and select Johnson as the County. Court hearings like this are normally open to the public as well, and any interested party can attend.
