ALTON – The ongoing case of Mayor David Goins vs. the City of Alton will be heard in Bond County after being delayed twice more.
Madison County court records show Judge Christopher Bauer was unavailable for an originally scheduled Sept. 11, 2026 hearing in the case of Goins vs. Alton.
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On Sept. 4, the case was set for a Sept. 17, 2026 hearing in Courtroom #1 at the Bond County Courthouse in Greenville. Bauer is a judge in the 3rd Judicial Circuit Court of Bond County, Ill.
As of the morning of Sept. 11, 2026, the hearing had once again been rescheduled for Oct. 6, 2026, according to an official with the mayor’s office.
The hearing concerns the mayor’s motion for preliminary injunction and the city’s motion to dissolve the mayor’s temporary retraining order. Goins is seeking a declaration from the court that two ordinances passed by City Council members were beyond the scope of their powers and inconsistent with Illinois law.
The city’s legal representation argues Goins is not entitled to protections under the TRO, including blocking the City Council from enacting the challenged ordinances, since the mayor himself signed both ordinances into law.
The ordinances in question resulted in two city employees being ousted from their positions before their terms expired, including City Attorney Rodney Caffey and Planning Director Greg Caffey. They also imposed new billing transparency requirements on the city attorney.
Both Caffeys have also been named as additional plaintiffs in the case following a consolidated motion granted on Sept. 1, 2026. The motion argues both Caffeys were “unlawfully removed from their respective positions” prior to the court granting Goins’s TRO, which temporarily reinstated them pending further court proceedings.
