(Indianapolis, IN) - Township governments in LaPorte County are no longer threatened at least for now.

La Porte County has been removed from legislation aimed at encouraging townships to merge in some areas of the state.  The House Ways and Means Committee voted to remove LaPorte County from House Bill 1355.

There was no discussion prior to the vote.

The amended bill paves the way for downstate Blackford, Crawford and Switzerland counties to merge all or close to all of their townships to improve government efficiency.

La Porte County has the most townships of any county in the state with 21.

Opponents to merging townships argue it would lower the quality of service for constituents and create a feeling of a more distant local government.

Locally, opponents are hoping La Porte County is not put back into the legislation if it passes the house and moves to the senate where the possibility exists of it being amended again.