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State defendants in a lawsuit brought by Indianapolis Public Schools regarding the sale of unused classroom buildings are being represented by outside counsel, rather than the Attorney General’s Office.
James Bopp Jr. of The Bopp Law Firm in Terre Haute is representing the defendants — including Attorney General Todd Rokita, Indiana Department of Education Secretary Katie Jenner and the members of the Indiana State Board of Education, who are being sued in their official capacities.
Asked why outside counsel was hired, Bopp said the Attorney General’s Office has “a lot” of outside counsel it works with.
“When the needs of the office warrant outside counsel, they engage them,” Bopp said.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office attributed the use of outside counsel to workload.
“Our mission is to defend all people in Indiana, and due to our workload, we are happy to welcome exceptional attorneys to our team like Jim Bopp,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Court records show Bopp has also been retained to represent Rokita in a case involving access to public records. A trial court granted summary judgment to the plaintiff in January, and Rokita has since appealed in Theodore Edward Rokita v. Barbara Tully, 23A-PL-00705.
Defendants in the IPS case are also refusing consent to the Marion County Commercial Court docket.
Bopp told IL the commercial court has “very limited jurisdiction.”
“It’s called the commercial court because it involves commercial lawsuits,” he said. “This is not a commercial lawsuit.”
IL has reached out to counsel for IPS for comment.
The IPS Board of School Commissioners filed the lawsuit in August over an updated version of a law that requires districts to offer unused classroom buildings to charter schools for $1.
IPS is arguing that it’s exempt from the law because it shared referendum funds approved in 2018 with innovation charter schools, providing more than $4 million annually, according to the complaint.
In an answer filed Thursday, the defendants argued that because IPS hasn’t held a tax referendum following the passage of the law in question — which “was intended operate prospectively” — the district was in violation of the law with its proposed plan to transfer two buildings to a nonprofit without giving proper notice.
The defendants are seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction, as well as a temporary restraining order that IPS may not transfer any school buildings without giving proper notice.
The school district also filed a motion for preliminary injunction in Board of School Commissioners for the City of Indianapolis v. Todd Rokita, in his official capacity as Indiana Attorney General, et al., 49D01-2308-PL-032783.
A hearing on the preliminary injunction motion is scheduled for 9 a.m. Oct. 16.
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