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The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana has found the City of Loogootee in contempt of a court order after the city allegedly violated a permanent injunction and final judgment stating the city cannot enforce an ordinance that appears to prevent pride festivities on the city’s public square.
The order, filed on Tuesday by Judge Richard Young, stems from an ongoing disagreement between the city and Patoka Valley AIDS Community Action Group Inc., a Dubois County volunteer group that raises awareness of HIV/AIDS.
In 2023, the city approved a permit request for the community group to host its first pride festival in the city’s public square. But updates to local ordinances for 2024 and 2025 impacted permit approvals for those years. The updated ordinances changed the permit application process for hosting events in the city and altered where events could be held — namely, no longer allowing permit requests for the public square.
In 2024, the city initially approved plans for the PrideFest to take place in the public square but rescinded that approval when the first update was approved. Patoka Valley then submitted a new permit request for the 2024 festival, and when there had been no ruling on the request, the organization filed litigation in the Southern Indiana District Court challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance. While that motion was pending, the city approved Patoka Valley’s request and the 2024 festival was held for that year.
Then in 2025, the city did not respond to the organization’s permit request. Instead, it amended the 2024 ordinance once again. When the 2025 permit was eventually approved, the ordinance required that the event be held in a city park or green space instead of in the public square.
The organization argued the 2024 and 2025 ordinances were unconstitutional because they allowed a permit to be denied if an event would present an unreasonable danger to the city and its people.
In August 2025, the district court found the city’s special events ordinance to be unconstitutional, granting final judgment to Patoka Valley AIDS Community Action Group in October to permanently enjoin the city from enforcing the ordinance.
But in December 2025, the city enacted a new ordinance for special events that “repeats, almost verbatim,” the ordinance that’s been permanently enjoined, according to the plaintiff’s motion for contempt.
That motion for contempt was filed in January by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which is representing Patoka Valley AIDS Community Action Group in the case. It argued that the city failed to comply with the permanent injunction and final judgment.
Attorneys for the city of Loogootee did not immediately respond to The Indiana Lawyer’s request for comment. The Indiana Lawyer was not able to reach Loogootee city officials.
As part of Judge Young’s order finding the city in contempt, the city must revoke its December 2025 ordinance within 15 days. If that doesn’t happen, the city will be fined $500 for every day that passes beyond that window.
“Compliance with court orders is an essential part of our judicial process,” Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, said in a press release on Wednesday. “No city or government official is above the law. While we are disappointed that contempt proceedings were even necessary, we hope this decision leads Loogootee to comply with the Constitution.”
The case is Patoka Valley Aids Community Action Group, Inc. v. City of Loogootee, Indiana, 3:24-cv-00100-RLY-CSW.
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