State Ex Rel. Condon v. City of Columbia

WALLER, Justice:

Appellant (the State) brought a lawsuit against respondent (City) in 1996, challenging a 1989 “strip” or “shoestring” annexation that led to the annexation of portions of Lexington County. A circuit judge granted City’s summary judgment motion and dismissed the case without addressing the legitimacy of the strip annexation. Thus, that issue is not before us. 1 The State appeals. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

FACTS

City purchased and annexed a strip of land about five feet wide and one mile long from Richtex Corporation in December 1989. The strip begins at the northern…