Metro Council Court to Meet Today

The members of the Louisville Metro Council who will hear the removal case against Councilwoman Judy Green, D-1, meet Monday to be sworn in as a court and possibly set a trial date.In two separate complaints, the Metro Ethics Commission ruled Green deliberately violated the city’s ethics ordinance. Since then, a bipartisan group of five city lawmakers have signed a petition to impeach Green and oust her from office.The remaining 20 members of the council will sit as jurors on a court and will be administered the oath by the Jefferson County Attorney at City Hall. The court will then appoint court officers and could  set a trial date sometime in August, a council spokesman says.The five members who have filed misconduct charges against Green have hired attorney Gregg Hovious to represent them in the removal proceedings. Green has retained defense attorney Derwin Webb, who says the trial should be set after her appeals to the ethics commission's decisions have been heard.Over the past month, the Metro Ethics Commission ruled against Green in two separate ethics complaints. The panel found she deliberately violated the city’s code of ethics and recommended her ouster.The court will decide Green’s fate by a two-thirds vote.