DAYTON, Wash. — Attorneys representing Neighbors United for Progress, Columbia County and Jessica Ruffcorn in the case aiming to block the library dissolution measure from the general election ballot have agreed to dismiss Ruffcorn as a named defendant.

Attorneys for each party signed a stipulation dismissing her from the case, according to a document filed in Columbia County Superior Court on Thursday, Sept. 14, obtained via public records request.

Ruffcorn, who sponsored the ballot measure to get the issue on the ballot, was dismissed with prejudice, meaning the same claim cannot be refiled against her.

She does not owe costs or fees to any party in the case, the filing said.

Ruffcorn’s attorney, Pete Serrano with the Pasco-based Silent Majority Foundation, had requested Ruffcorn be dismissed, saying she was exercising her constitutional right to petition the government.

A stay of the case, which was in place as of Thursday, Sept. 7, when the request was filed, was terminated with the attorneys reaching the agreement.

Plaintiffs Neighbors United for Progress and members Elise Severe and Gerald Kaiser still seek to block the issue from going before voters, requesting the court prevent Columbia County, Auditor Will Hutchens and elections supervisor Cathy Abel from placing the measure on the ballot.

Three additional witnesses filed declarations on Wednesday, Sept. 13, claiming they were misled by canvassers about the purpose of the petition and would not have signed it had they known it was to dissolve the library district.

The witnesses wrote under pseudonyms, saying they feared retaliation, criticism, ostracism and harm to their business for speaking against the petition and ballot measure publicly, the declarations said.

The hearing for the case has been rescheduled to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, according to Columbia County Court Clerk Kriston Chapman.

Walla Walla County Superior Court Judge M. Scott Wolfram will be the presiding judge.