The preliminary injunction the township is seeking against Kenoma would maintain the status quo of the operation until a final trial decision.

According to documents filed with the Barton County Circuit Court, the township ultimately wants the judge to issue a permanent injunction against Kenoma that would prohibit it from constructing or operating a hog farm that size.

The court documents list Springfield attorney John Price as representing the Richland Township, and Jefferson City attorney Robert Brundage representing Kenoma.

In support of the township’s case, Price cited myriad court cases establishing the township’s right to enforce zoning and planning in Barton County. The township insists it has the right to enforce these ordinances through a statute that allows it to enact planning and zoning regulations for the purpose of “promoting health, safety, morals, comfort or the general welfare of the unincorporated portion of the township, to conserve and protect property and building values (and) to secure the most economic use of the land.”

The statute does not allow the township to enact planning and zoning to regulate the “erection, maintenance, repair, alteration or extension of farm buildings or farm structures.” In previous court cases, that preclusion swung the verdict in favor of agricultural operations. But the Richland Township insists that this case favors the plaintiffs because the planning and zoning handbook seeks to regulate only the use of the land for agricultural operations, not structures. There isn’t a structure yet in place and the handbook specifically applies to both confined and unconfined hogs.

In its defense, Kenoma cites the infamous court case of Premium Standard Farms Inc. v. Lincoln Township of Putnam County, Mo. In the 1997 case, the court found in favor of a hog farm significantly larger than the proposed Kenoma farm because the judge said the township did not have the authority to enforce zoning laws in the case.

Kenoma says in its documents that the Richland Township’s planning and zoning ordinance is an unlawful attempt to regulate farm structures and what goes on inside farm structures.

“The Richland Township’s attempt to regulate the number of hogs on a defined number of acres is a thinly veiled attempt to circumvent the statutory intent to prevent townships from regulating livestock housed inside barns and farm structures,” Kenoma’s opposition document reads. “It would be an absurd result for the court to rule that a township may not regulate hog barns but may regulate how many hogs may be housed inside a hog barn.”

Expenses

The Richland Township also wants the court to order Kenoma LLC to pay all of the township’s costs and expenses incurred during the litigation.