Potter County District Court | Photo by Noah Dawson

The Seventh Court of Appeals denied a motion by the City of Amarillo for their reply brief to exceed 7,500 words in the ongoing appeal of the civic center improvement funding lawsuit.

In their motion, the city argued that it needed an increased word count to reply to briefs filed by Alex Fairly and the Attorney General. Specifically, it argued that Fairly had exceeded the allowed word limit in his briefs and would need an increased word count to reply. Fairly filed a response to the motion stating that he disagreed with the city’s interpretation of the law regarding the word limit.

The court did grant a separate motion made by the city to extend the deadline for filing their reply brief. The deadline, which was originally April 12th, is now May 2nd.

The ongoing appeal stems from Alex Fairly’s lawsuit against the city last year, in which he alleged numerous violations of state law regarding the city’s attempt to fund improvements to the Amarillo Civic Center Complex with tax anticipation notes. Fairly specifically alleged that the city was essentially attempting to subvert the will of voters, who rejected a similar proposal funded by bonds in November of 2020. While Fairly won at the trial level last year, both Fairly and the City of Amarillo are appealing. The City of Amarillo has argued it did not break the law, while Fairly is arguing the court did not go far enough in listing the laws broken by the city. For the latest updates on this case, be sure to regularly check AmarilloPioneer.com.