St. George officials sworn into office Monday…Mary Olive Pierson responds

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Officials with the City of St. George took their oaths of office Monday night, marking the start of East Baton Rouge Parish's newest city government.

St. George's first mayor, police chief and board of aldermen were sworn in at a ceremony Monday evening at Woodlawn Baptist Church on Jones Creek Road with about 100 attendees, despite pushback from opponents who say the move is premature.

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Voters within the city's limits agreed to the incorporation in an October 2019 election, but the matter was held up in courts for years after Baton Rouge leaders sued. Last April, the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the incorporation by a 4-3 vote, overturning the decisions of two lower courts.

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However, the legal battle is not yet finalized. Baton Rouge Mayor Pro Tem Lamont Cole filed a request for a rehearing last month, calling the incorporation a "looming train wreck" in recent court filings. The rehearing request argues that the Supreme Court failed to determine the official date of incorporation or city boundaries, which is required under state law.

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Cole's attorney, Mary Olive Pierson, said the city does not officially exist yet.

"What are they getting sworn into, a non-existent city?" Pierson said before the ceremony. "These people are jumping the gun. They better not collect any public money, that's all I can tell them. Unless they want to go to jail."

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