Worth County raising funds to fight hog confinement ruling in court

Officials in a northern Iowa county have started a fundraising drive to bankroll a lawsuit over hog regulations. The Worth County Board of Supervisors has voted to appeal a district court ruling that’s tossed out county health rules regarding hog confinements. Worth County Supervisor Darrell Bang says they’ll have to drop the appeal if they can’t raise the dough to pay the county’s legal fees. The judge ruled that state law forbids counties from enacting restrictions on the livestock industry, and Bang says that’s why it’s important for Worth County to appeal the decision. He says the county needs to have more control on behalf of its citizens. A group calling itself “Worth County Concerned Citizens” has pledged two-thousand dollars to help pay legal costs, and Worth County officials are soliciting money from other counties with similar ordinances.