No decision has been rendered in a civil suit filed against the Cowley County Commission by an Arkansas City couple.
A hearing was held Aug. 30 over the law suit filed by Victor and Nancy Barnes who own about 14 acres of land one-half mile west of U.S. 77 and 252nd Road.
They claim the county had no right to send county employees onto their land without their permission and then bill them over $11,000 for the time spent cleaning the property they were already cleaning.
Action was taken against the Barnes after five county residents complained about what they described as uninhabitable structures and debris which constituted a nuisance.
The Barnes have been living in Philadelphia while helping to rehabilitate an inter-city church building as part of a mission by the Assembly of God Church in Ark City. A son used the property as a paintball course before being deployed to Iraq with the Kansas National Guard.
Some clearing was done by a company hired by the Barnes and some work remained when county workers were sent to finish the work.
The case was heard by District Judge J. Michael Smith.
