Salina City Commissioners will hold a special meeting on Tuesday to again meet behind closed doors to discuss legal considerations relating to the Cozy Inn vs. City of Salina case.

According to the City, commissioners will recess into executive session immediately following roll call. They will return to open session following the conclusion of the executive session with possible action to follow.

During the past two consecutive regularly scheduled meetings Salina City Commissioners convened into lengthy executive sessions to discuss the Cozy Inn vs City of Salina court decision, and then afterwards immediately adjourned without making comment.

Back on November 19th a federal court sided with the Cozy Inn in the lawsuit involving the City of Salina. U.S. District Court Judge Toby Crouse ruled that the City of Salina violated the First Amendment by ordering the Cozy Inn to stop painting a mural on the outside of the building. Steve Howard, owner of the burger joint, filed the lawsuit with help from the Kansas Justice Institute in early 2024 after Salina officials told him to stop the painting project.

The court did side with the City of Salina in part of the case, though.  The judge determined Salina has shown that its sign ordinance is not impermissibly vague, warranting summary judgment in Salina’s favor on the Cozy;s Fourteenth Amendment claim of equal protection of the laws” and that states cannot deprive any person of “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”.

The city has spent over $700,000 on the case.

The special meeting is scheduled for 3:00 Tuesday afternoon in the Salina City-County Building Room 107.