If Wheeling City Solicitor Rosemary Humway-Warmuth gets her way, members of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 38 will not get to question those who signed the two-officer per cruiser petition.

Ohio County Circuit Judge Arthur Recht will hear Humway-Warmuth's motion to quash or modify the subpoena the FOP filed when the organization wanted to examine the signature pages. The hearing is set for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in Recht's courtroom on the fifth floor of the City-County Building, 1500 Chapline St.

FOP attorney Joseph John said during a September hearing that he could produce witnesses who would testify that they did not sign the petition, even though their signatures appeared on it.

Recht then ruled that those claiming someone forged their signatures should testify on the matter during a hearing set for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 25 in his courtroom.

Now Humway-Warmuth wants to prevent the FOP from using the signature pages.

"The city of Wheeling is aware of two most recent cases which address such issues as releasing petitions and the issues of the secret ballots, personal privacy, the public interest that the electoral process be free from the possibility of voter intimidation, political and free speech aspects of a petition and jurisdictional issues," she wrote. "... The city is aware from the former hearing that the intervenors intend to question persons who signed the petitions."

One of the cases Humway-Warmuth cites as legal precedent was decided Aug. 21 in Jefferson County Circuit Court. In this case, The Sheperdstown Observer sued Circuit Clerk Jennifer Maghan to force her to release a petition submitted by voters regarding a zoning matter.

Maghan, however, denied the Observer's request, noting her office did not create the document in question. Circuit Judge David Saunders then ruled in Maghan's favor, declaring the petition was not a matter of public record because it was not crafted by the government.

The Observer has since taken the ruling to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

In the Wheeling case, residents George Jones and William Hefner circulated the petitions asking for a city-wide election on the two-officer per cruiser mandate before submitting them to City Clerk Janice Jones.

After Janice Jones certified 2,469 signatures to City Council in July, members voted unanimously in August to accept the petition. Humway-Warmuth then immediately filed suit against petition circulator George Jones in an effort to hold the election in May, rather than within 90 days as the City Charter seems to mandate.

John, however, claims Janice Jones and council should not have accepted the signatures because George Jones and Hefner did not adhere to the City Charter.

His filing asserts that "certain signatures are improper and have been improperly inserted into the petition without the person's consent; the circulator, on some signature pages, did not witness the signature in his/her presence as required; certain signatures inserted on the signature pages are not those of the actual people identified and said signatures were forged thereon."

Recht allowed the FOP to intervene in the initial lawsuit involving Wheeling and George Jones, making the case a three-way clash. George Jones disputes the FOP forgery claims, noting that he and Hefner followed the requirements established by the charter.

Humway-Warmuth had little to say about her motion to stop the FOP.

"We are just bringing this before the judge so he can tell us what to do," she said.

For his part, George Jones said he will "just show up and see what happens" at the Wednesday hearing.

John did not return calls seeking comment on behalf of the FOP.

If Recht ultimately permits the election, Wheeling voters will get to decide if the 1972 ordinance requiring two city police officers to ride in all frontline patrol cars should remain on the books.

If residents would repeal the law, new Police Chief Robert Matheny would be able to delegate officers the way he sees fit, as opposed to being forced to comply with the ordinance.