Knox City Council Discusses Risner Suit

The pending lawsuit from Edward Risner against the city of Knox was discussed further at the recent meeting of the Knox City Council. Risner claims in his suit that the city committed a breach of verbal contract, and requests $40,000 in reimbursement.

The suit was originally filed in federal court, but was dismissed and has been re-filed. Unfortunately, because the city’s liability carrier does not cover this kind of suit, the city will have to hire its own counsel out-of-pocket. Two firms expressed interest in handling the case: a firm out of LaPorte that quoted the city $150 per hour and estimated a total of nearly 130 hours for the case. The firm of City Attorney David Matsey quoted $120 an hour, and Matsey said that he hopes to get the case thrown out before it ever gets to trial.

If the case does get dismissed, Matsey said, he would strongly encourage the city to countersue for filing a frivolous lawsuit.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to hire Matsey’s firm to represent the city in the suit against Risner, who claims that the city breached a verbal contract when they refused to burn down his house as part of a training exercise.