SANDPOINT — A status conference in a civil lawsuit involving a proposed ban on firearms at this summer’s Festival at Sandpoint has been postponed until Jan. 28.

Bonner County filed suit against the city of Sandpoint last fall for allowing organizers of the annual summer concert series to develop security protocols when the Festival rents War Memorial Field, a public facility.

Those protocols would include a prohibition on guns at the popular event.

Coeur d’Alene attorney Peter Erbland, who represents the city of Sandpoint in the litigation, on Friday said the Jan. 28 hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Bonner County courthouse.

Idaho law forbids the prohibition of firearms in public places, although the city contends the Festival is within its rights to restrict firearms because it leases the facility from the city.

The county’s litigation seeks to prevent the Festival from prohibiting firearms. Commissioners said they brought the suit at the request of constituents who said their safety was jeopardized by the firearms ban during the Festival.

Festival officials announced prior to this year’s run of concerts that they would be prohibiting concertgoers from bringing firearms onto the grounds in order to meet contractual obligations of performing artists.

Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler and the county sued the city for injunctive relief to prevent the city from enforcing the firearms ban at Memorial Field during the Festival.

The city has defended the Festival’s right to draw up security policies when it rents the city facility each summer for the two-week concert series.

This year’s Festival is Aug. 6-16. The summer concert series is celebrating its 38th year.