How long is long? Bloomington annexation case awaits ruling from highest court after 271 days
Bloomington’s Area 1A and 1B annexation case is closed. But a separate constitutional challenge remains before the Indiana Supreme Court 271 days after oral arguments. That wait is near the 90th percentile among 316 argued cases decided since 2018, but about two dozen took longer.
One part of Bloomington’s annexation litigation wrapped up for good last week. The attorney fees to the winning remonstrators were awarded which means the case for Area 1A and Area 1B is closed.
But what about the still pending litigation in the other annexation areas, which depends on a constitutional argument? The Indiana Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Oct. 30, 2025, which is 271 days ago.
How long will we have to wait for a ruling from the Indiana Supreme Court? Is the roughly nine-month timeframe so relatively long, medium or short, compared to the court’s history over the last several years?
Based on a B Square review of the time span between oral arguments and a decision for 316 cases from Jan. 1, 2018 to June 30, 2026, the 271 days so far is way longer than the median of 140 days, but not yet record-setting.
For the period analyzed, there were a couple dozen cases that took longer than 271 days, including one that took 741 days, or nearly two years.
The cases are posted on the court’s website. There were 449 decisions posted, but of those only 316 had oral arguments. So the methodology did not measure generally how long a proceeding in front of the court took—just the period between oral argument and a decision.
That means the 271 days so far is about at the 90th percentile for length of time between oral arguments and a decision, if the decision came today.
The familiar line from John Mellencamp’s “Minutes to Memories” sums it up about right: “This highway is long but I know some that are longer.”
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