Louisiana Supreme Court rules Baton Rouge residents can form separate city of St. George

On Friday, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that wealthy residents of an area of Baton Rouge fed up with rampant crime and mismanagement would finally be allowed to split and incorporate their own city, St. George.

The ruling is the culmination of 15 years of convincing community members and the courts to green-light the move, which first began as a fight to form a new school district.

According to the Associated Press, the highest court in the state ruled 4-3 that residents living in the southeast areas of the capital could incorporate St. George, overturning rulings from lower courts that denied the request.

The court found that organizers of the proposed new city had finally managed to follow the proper steps, and that it was reasonable to believe it could provide residents with all the necessary public services.

In 2019, a referendum was held within the boundaries of what will soon become St. George, and 54 percent voted "yes." Leaders from Baton Rouge took organizers to court, claiming that secession would bring with it negative consequences for the poorer residents nearby. Further bids to incorporate St. George were quashed in 2022 and 2023.

At the time, only 12 percent of the proposed city's residents were black, compared to the neighboring East Baton Rouge Parish, which was 47 percent black.

While many have deemed the move to be racially motivated, the organizers' attorney J. Andrew Murrell stressed that the city was for all residents, regardless of their skin color.

"We are open for everyone," he said. "If you want more opportunity, you want a better life, you want a chance for lower crime: St. George. I don't care what you look like, no one does. No one ever did. That's a narrative that was created as a smokescreen to rally people into a cause. It's never been true."

"We're ready to move forward," he added. "We've had a goal the entire time, two goals: create a world class city that everyone can be proud of that's accountable to its citizens, and second, make a better East Baton Rouge Parish. A parish that’s on the decline with a high crime rate, a poor education system and people leaving in record numbers to go to other parishes who are benefitting from those citizens. We had two goals, better city, better parish, and now we move forward in that process."