Braves Stadium Bond Validation Appeal on Georgia Supreme Court Trial Calendar

In just over three months, the Georgia Supreme Court will decide whether a Cobb County Superior Court judge’s decision to validate the issuance of hundreds of millions of dollars of bonds to pay for the SunTrust Park, the Atlanta Braves’ new stadium, was done constitutionally.

The Marietta Daily Journal reports that the appeal will go before the supreme court in February of 2015. Three appeals of the bond validation were issued separately, but the court may decide to combine them all into one large case. Attorneys for the plaintiffs have 16 more days to file briefs, the MDJ says.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an attorney and a Cobb County resident are appealing Judge Robert Leonard’s July decision to validate the issuance of $397 million in bonds to pay for the construction of the Smyrna area stadium because they argue local governments cannot assume such debt without putting the proposal to the voters in a referendum.

Cobb County entered into an intergovernmental contract between itself and the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority to issue the bonds, but the latter entity will have no hand in repaying the debt or building or operating the stadium.

A Braves spokesman has acknowledged the appeal, but said that they have “full confidence” that the validation will be upheld by the supreme court.