A U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals panel has agreed to consider an appeal by Douglas County Rural District No. 4 in a long legal battle with the city of Eudora.

In an order issued Wednesday, the judges gave the water district’s attorneys permission to ask the appellate court in Denver to primarily consider how a recent change in a state law affects the case.

The water district sued Eudora in 2007 seeking to prevent the city from providing service to properties the city annexed years prior south of Kansas Highway 10 along County Road 1061. The city filed a counterclaim against the district. A federal jury in 2009 found in favor of the water district, but an appellate panel later reversed that verdict based on an error in a jury instruction and returned the case to U.S. District Court.

U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson last month agreed to let the parties make another appeal to the 10th circuit saying the panel’s decision could either decide the case or make it necessary for a new trial.