BATON ROUGE - Organizers behind the City of St. George effort were disappointed by the First Circuit Court's decision to deny their incorporation, but not deterred.

"We told the St. George voters from the very beginning that we were going to continue fighting all the way until we satisfy what they voted for, which is to incorporate St. George," said Andrew Murrell, a St. George legal team member. 

First Circuit judges Mitchell Theriot, Wayne Ray Chutz and Steven Miller unanimously agreed that the petition for St. George "failed to comply" with state law, stating that they did not have an adequate plan in place.

They've been told 'no' twice before this already--last year by Judge Martin Coady, and in 2015 when they failed to get enough signatures on their petition.

The latest incorporation effort was voted on in 2019 and was ultimately passed by 54% of voters.

But now the plan is to take their plea all the way to the top.

"We're still going to the Supreme Court. We knew we were ending up in the Louisiana Supreme Court either way whether we lost or we won so we are exactly where we thought we'd be," Murrell said.

It's a move the City-Parish was expecting. Lead counsel for Baton Rouge, Mary Olive Pierson, said they are prepared for the case to go to the Supreme Court.

But it may not even make it that far.

"It's a lot of paper. It's a writ application to the Supreme Court. They'll determine if they want to hear the matter, if they decline to hear it, that's it," Murrell said.

If they decide to hear it, both sides will begin drafting briefs as they did in the First Circuit appeal.

"If our plan is not sufficient by the Louisiana Supreme Court, then we are not able to incorporate and move forward," Murrell said.