Supporters of three Rocky View County (RVC) councillors fighting to overturn sanctions are expected to be protesting outside Calgary's Provincial Court tomorrow morning, Jan. 22.

Councillors Samanntha Wright, Kevin Hanson and Crystal Kissel are taking the county to court over sanctions placed on them in June and will be appearing at the Court of Queen's Bench at 10 a.m.

Rocky View resident Janet Ballantyne, who also organized a petition asking for a ministerial review of the county, says she doesn't know how many people will be attending but believes support is widespread.

"People are very supportive of the three of them," she says. "They are very frustrated that the three have tried to resolve things, and the majority on council aren't willing to."

The sanctions were established after they questioned the procedure used to hire RVC CAO Al Hoggan. The county says the councillors shared confidential documents with a lawyer without council’s approval. Following the removal of a subsequent notice of motion from an April council agenda, the three submitted a letter to a Rocky View publication.

Since June 11, they have been removed from all county boards and committees, restricted from travelling on behalf of the municipality, and slapped with a 30 per cent reduction in pay. They have also been directed to issue apologies.

A fourth councillor, Gerry Gautreau of division 5, has recently been reprimanded by council for his part in questioning how the CAO was hired.

The only consequence for him is to apologize for his actions at the Jan. 28 council meeting.

On Jan. 14, Gautreau was named chair of the county's municipal planning commission.

Wright, Kissel, and Hanson have remained vocally opposed to the actions taken. In September they held a series of open houses to present their side of the story.

It's been an expensive process, though. A website called "Stop Our Sanctions" with the subtitle "Help restore transparency and accountability to Rocky View County" was established by the Rocky View Taxpayers Association. To date, $19,280 has been contributed by 95 people to offset some of the legal expenses.