County Residents Against Annexation - CRAA

02/10/2026

This is great news for remonstrators in 1A and 1B: the Indiana Supreme Court has denied transfer of the case. This means that the unanimous decision by the Indiana Court of Appeals stands and that annexation of 1A and 1B shall not occur. We still have legal issues before us, such as recouping expenses, so let us all be respectful in our victory over the City of Bloomington's involuntary and unilateral annexation. We are also still awaiting the Indiana Supreme Court's determination on the "Waiver" case impacting areas 1C, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

12/02/2025

This Giving Tuesday, Help Us Finish the Fight Against Forced Annexation

County Residents Against Annexation (CRAA) has had major wins at the Indiana Court of Appeals. In all annexation areas (1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 3, 4, and 5), a unanimous panel of three judges ruled against the City of Bloomington.

But the City has now petitioned the Indiana Supreme Court to overturn those victories—and we have only days, not weeks, to respond.

💥 Here’s what we urgently need:

$10,000 immediately so our local legal team has the operational funds needed to represent Areas 1A and 1B at the Indiana Supreme Court.

🧾 How to Give (Tax-Deductible):

Donations are tax-deductible, and amounts under $5,000 may remain anonymous.

Donor-Advised Funds may need CRAA’s EIN: 87-2276274.

📬 To Donate:
Mail a check to:
County Residents Against Annexation (CRAA)
PO Box 5774
Bloomington, IN 47407

Or give online:
Visit www.craa.in, scroll to the bottom, and click the DONATE button.

Every dollar helps represent and protect county residents and defend the hard-won victories that safeguard our community from forced annexation.

11/11/2025

The City has petitioned the Indiana Supreme Court to accept transfer of the Indiana Appellate Court’s unanimous decision in favor of 1A and 1B. We still need donations to support our representation in court. Please mail donations to: CRAA, PO Box 5774, Bloomington, IN 47407. Thank you.

10/29/2025

Tomorrow, Thursday October 30th, at 10 am, in room 317 of the Statehouse located at 200 W Washington St, Indianapolis, IN, the Indiana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the “Waiver” case which pertains to annexation areas 1C, 2, 3, 4, and 5. If you plan to go in person, please arrive early and allow time to go through security. We also ask that you act with the utmost respect during the proceeding which will last less than an hour. For those planning to attend virtually, the link to the live feed will begin approximately two minutes before the proceeding begins. It will also be available approximately three hours after the proceeding is finished at this website: https://mycourts.in.gov/arguments/default.aspx?&id=3037&view=detail&yr=&when=&page=1&court=&search=&direction=%20ASC&future=False&sort=&judge=&county=&admin=False&pageSize=20

The case number is: 24A-PL-01775.

Please know that we still need donations to pay for ongoing legal expenses. Checks can be mailed to: CRAA, PO Box 5774, Bloomington, IN 47407.

09/25/2025

Indiana Appeals Court deals another blow to Bloomington's quest to expand its boundaries
Boris Ladwig
The Herald-Times

• The Indiana Appeals Court has blocked the city of Bloomington's attempt to annex two areas on its western edge.
• The court affirmed a lower court's ruling that the city could not provide adequate services to the nearly 8,600 residents in the areas.
• A separate annexation case involving other areas is scheduled to be heard by the Indiana Supreme Court.
• The city's annexation efforts began in 2017 but have faced legal and legislative challenges.
Editor’s note: This story may be updated.
The Indiana Appeals Court has dealt another blow to the city of Bloomington’s annexation attempt.
The court in a ruling issued Wednesday sided with annexation opponents and affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the city had not met the legal burden that would warrant annexation of two areas on the city’s western edge. The areas cover about 5,000 acres and have about 8,600 residents.
In her 31-page opinion, Judge Leanna K. Weissmann said she rejected the city’s “novel interpretations” of the state’s annexation laws and agreed with Judge Nathan Nikirk, who, after a trial last year, said the city was trying to annex “relatively rural" areas and lacked adequate staffs in the public works and police departments to provide services in those areas if annexation proceeded.

Other areas the city is seeking to annex are part of a different case that the Indiana Supreme Court is scheduled to examine next month.
The city had appealed Nikirk’s ruling, arguing the judge had misconstrued the annexation requirements.
“We find no such misconstruction and affirm the trial court’s judgment halting the annexation,” Weissmann wrote.
The administration of Mayor Kerry Thomson could not be reached immediately Wednesday evening to say whether it planned to ask the Indiana Supreme Court to also review this case. Margaret Clements, president of County Residents Against Annexation, also could not be reached immediately Wednesday evening.
The city’s quest to expand its boundaries began in 2017 when then-Mayor John Hamilton proposed the initial annexation, which was halted by an action of the state legislature that the Indiana Supreme Court later ruled to be unconstitutional.

In 2021, Hamilton renewed the annexation attempt, saying the proposal aimed to “right-size” the city, which has not expanded its boundaries since 2004, despite significant growth around it. Residents in the annexation areas would face, on average, hundreds of dollars more in property taxes, and many say they do not want to pay taxes for few, if any, services they would find useful.
Residents in the targeted areas had three months at the end of 2021 and the start of 2022 to formally oppose the annexation plan by filing remonstrance petitions. In five of the seven areas — the areas that are subject to the case that will go before the state supreme court — residents filed enough remonstrance petitions to stop annexation. In two areas — those that are subject to the case in which the appeals court issued a ruling Wednesday — residents filed enough petitions to challenge the city's annexation attempt in court.

Weissmann wrote that Nikirk “properly concluded that neither area … met the (state’s annexation) requirements,” that annexation would have a “significant financial impact” on the residents in the affected areas and that property owners “would receive little benefit” from higher taxes.
Boris Ladwig can be reached at [email protected]

Indiana Appeals Court Judge Leanna K. Weissman said she rejected the city’s “novel interpretations” of the state’s annexation laws.

08/17/2025

The City of Bloomington’s appeal of Judge Nikirk’s decision that it had not met the legal standards for annexation in areas 1A and 1B will be heard by the Indiana Court of Appeals on Tuesday morning, August 19th, at 10:30 am. The hearing will take place at the Indiana State Capitol building, 200 W Washington St., Indianapolis, Indiana. If you are planning to attend in person, please arrive early because you will need to go through security at the N. Capitol Avenue entrance to the State Capitol Building. We also ask that those in attendance act with the utmost decorum (no comments, no faces, no disruptions) throughout the hearing.

If you are not attending in person, you will be able to virtually view the proceedings live by following this link:

https://mycourts.in.gov/arguments/default.aspx?&id=3017&view=detail&yr=&when=&page=1&court=APP&search=&direction=%20ASC&future=True&sort=&judge=&county=&admin=true&pageSize=20

The video will be “live” two minutes before the proceeding begins. The video will also be archived if you are only able to view it after the live arguments are finished. For your information, the case number is: 24A-PL-1967. We still need donations to cover our legal expenses, so please consider mailing a charitable donation to CRAA, PO Box 5774, Bloomington, IN 47407. Thank you.

07/31/2025

This is an annexation update:

Mark your calendars in order to attend the 7 appeals the City of Bloomington has filed against remonstrators in the annexation areas:

August 19, 10:30 am, the Indiana Court of Appeals will hear the City’s appeal of Judge Nikirk’s decisions in favor of remonstrators in annexation areas 1A and 1B. This will take place in the Indiana State Capitol building, Room 413 Indianapolis, Indiana 46204. The argument will be web-cast at www.IN.gov/judiciary and will be televised on a monitor outside of the Courtroom 5.

October 30, 10:00 am, the Indiana Supreme Court will hear the City’s appeal of the Indiana Court of Appeals judgment in favor of remonstrators regarding annexation areas 1c, 2, 3, 4, and 5. This is the “waiver” case. The arguments will be conducted in the Courtroom of the Indiana Supreme Court, 317 Statehouse, 200 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana.

If you plan to attend any of these hearings, be sure to arrive early in order to go through security and be respectful of the process.

07/04/2025

Happy Independence Day! As we celebrate our Independence, this is a little update about our Annexation Lawsuits initiated by the City of Bloomington against the property owners and remonstrators in the County:

Annexation areas 1A and 1B oral arguments will be heard by the Indiana Court of Appeals on August 19th at 10:30 at the State Capitol in Indianapolis. As the date draws near, I will send another reminder and more information about the room number and such. Now, mark and clear your calendar, if possible, so you can attend the hearing.

Annexation areas 1C, 2, 3, 4, and 5 waiver case: City of Bloomington has filed appeal to Indiana Supreme Court. We are waiting to hear whether or not the Indiana Supreme Court will hear the case.

In the meantime, we are winning. Enjoy this day!

04/30/2025

I know people are wondering what is going on with the seven lawsuits the City of Bloomington has filed in various Courts of Appeals against County Residents in the annexation areas. Here is a brief update:

We are waiting for the Indiana Court of Appeals to assign three judges to review the case for 1A and 1B. We are also waiting for them to set a date to hear oral arguments in Indianapolis because the City has requested to present oral arguments to the court.

Regarding the “waiver” case for 1c, 2, 3, 4, and 5, we are waiting to learn if the Indiana Supreme Court will accept the City’s request to transfer the case to them.

We have incurred expenses and need your help to pay them. Please consider sending a tax deductible donation to: CRAA, PO Box 5774, Bloomington, IN 47407.

03/20/2025

Our attorneys, Bill Beggs and Ryan H**b of Bunger & Robertson, have responded to the City’s appeal of our legal victories for 1A and 1B. We affirm that the City did not meet the legal standards for annexation, that annexation would have a significant financial impact on property owners in the annexation areas, that the annexation is not in the best interests of residents and property owners in the annexation areas, and that Judge Nikirk did not err in his decision to void the annexations for 1A and 1B. We encourage the City of Bloomington to drop their continued advocacy of their ill conceived annexation policies. It is in the best interest of the community to stop it sooner rather than later.

03/13/2025

The City has announced that it will petition the Indiana Supreme Court to consider the rulings against them on the “waiver cases.”

02/19/2025

That was a photo taken during Covid. The most infectious time period exactly overlapped with the 90 day remonstration period against annexation. It was a hard won victory, but the courts have spoken….again…. The question is: will the City listen? Thank you, Joe Hren, for this write up.

https://indianapublicmedia.org/news/appeals-court-rules-against-city-in-annexation-case.php?fbclid=IwY2xjawIjGX1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHU1v7kTThb6P4vGMwjpPxxyZeMn56z627t-wgT4We-1LN5JRTKg2W5nbzg_aem_QHFQOIr31FECL2t8WTiV2Q

The Indiana Appeals Court ruled Tuesday against the city’s constitutionality appeal in five of the seven annexation areas.