Hoyt city attorney to leave; council to meet March 19 to consider replacement and cemetery deed offer

City attorney Caleb Hitz informed the Hoyt City Council on March 4 that he will be leaving his law firm and relocating from the area and therefore will no longer represent the city. Hitz said Tom Barnes (also with the Stumbo Hanson firm) could represent Hoyt but is not available on the first Tuesday of the month; council discussed changing court and meeting dates to accommodate Barnes’s schedule.

The council tentatively set a special meeting for March 19, 2025 at 7 p.m. so members can meet with Barnes and discuss what would be needed to change court and meeting dates if they choose new counsel.

Hitz also reported he had followed up on an inquiry from the Roman Catholic Church about a cemetery it owns north of town. The church told Hitz it does not maintain the property and would like to deed it to the City of Hoyt; the Hoyt Cemetery Board currently maintains the cemetery and council asked the attorney to review legal issues associated with accepting the deed, noting the property is outside city limits.

Why it matters: replacing legal counsel touches several operational areas (court representation, meeting schedules and legal continuity). A deed transfer of cemetery property raises questions about maintenance responsibility, jurisdiction and whether the city should accept ownership of land outside municipal boundaries.

What happens next: Hitz will research the legal questions on the cemetery deed and council members will meet with Barnes at the special March 19 meeting to evaluate options for legal representation. The minutes contain inconsistent spelling for the city attorney later in the record; this article follows the attorney’s name as listed in the meeting roster (Caleb Hitz) and notes the minutes later reference the same person as “Witz.”