2006-SC-000903-DG 1/22/2009
Opinion by Justice Schroder. All sitting; all concur.
Louisville initiated annexation proceedings over the property at issue in 1984.However, the annexation process was never completed. In 2002,Prospect– a city of the fourth class– purported to annex the property. Louisville Metro brought suit to have the Prospect annexation deemed void ab initio. The trial court granted summary judgment to Prospect, ruling Louisville Metro had failed to complete annexation within a reasonable amount of time and thus lost priority over Prospect’s annexation. The Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Prospect’s annexation was void since the Louisville/Jefferson County Cooperative Compact,created in 1986 and authorized by the General Assembly provided a 22-year exclusive window, during which Louisville had exclusive priority on all annexations.
