The Kentucky Court of Appeals has dismissed an appeal filed by former Union Commissioner Brian Garner against a ruling by Boone County Circuit Court Judge Richard Brueggemann to dissolve the city commission in January, following reports from voters of wrongful ballot distributions at two Union polling sites.
Court documents indicate that Garner had failed to file a proper bond with the court, thereby failing to “invoke the jurisdiction of this Court. The failure to post a bond is fatal to Garner’s appeal.”
Current Union City Commissioner Doug Bine, who was the first bring the election challenge to the circuit court, and his attorney had previously filed their own motion with the appellate court to dismiss the appeal, arguing the circuit court had not, in fact, tendered a final decision on the matter and that, therefore, the appeals court was not the proper place to hear the appeal. Garner and his attorney later filed a response, granting that the appeal was premature and asking the court to dismiss the case without prejudice, which would allow Garner to bring the matter before the appeals court again in the future if he wanted to.
Previous statements from Garner indicate that he likely will not continue pursuing the appeal.
“Though this legal avenue has reached its end, my fight for the people of Union is far from over,” Garner wrote in an email to LINK nky. “I remain committed to ensuring that our local government is accountable, transparent and truly representative of those it serves. The residents of Union deserve leaders who respect their voices, and I will continue working to uphold the integrity of our community’s democracy.”
Garner recently submitted a request to the Kentucky Attorney General’s office to tender an opinion on whether the appointment of new Union Commissioner Jeremy Ramage was legal. The city is expected to respond to Garner’s complaint this week.