ATHENS - More trouble is brewing for the Henderson County Commissioners Court as the leaders of a Wisconsin atheist group consider their options for either attempting to eliminate or to compete with the city's longstanding tradition of displaying a Christmas nativity scene on the courthouse lawn. The court approved a premises-use policy on March 27 that opponents claim was designed to prevent the Freedom from Religion Foundation, of Madiscon, Wisc., from erecting a display on the courthouse lawn to counter a traditional Christmas message. The county policy proclaims that property of the county "has never been a public forum" and that county officials may "contract with individuals or private groups to place displays or decorations on its property," according to the Athens Daily Review. FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a telephone interview recently that the Commissioners Court's actions amount to an "underhanded" approach to dealing with the controversy. Henderson County officials told FFRF they planned to put them on the court's agenda to discuss the atheist organization's plans, but they never advised them a policy was under development to pre-empt their request, she said. Reporters for a couple of local newspapers covering the court's activities apparently never contacted FFRF for comment, although several reports were written about the issue. Gaylor said she and her co-president Dan Barker were unaware of any deliberations about the policy by the court. In another report by the Athens newspaper, county officials were quoted as saying they had always controlled the messages displayed on county property, but had never formalized it. The atheist leader said a county official called and asked the organization's attorneys how much time would be needed to arrange a trip to Athens to make the request to present a display at Christmas. The county official failed to mention an item related to the request had already been under discussion by the court for weeks, she said. "It appears pretty obvious that this is dirty pool, that the county intended to string us along using delaying and stalling tactics," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president, in a statement in an e-mail. "We don't have a copy of the policy yet, but it would seem to be written to maintain the status quo and explicitly to maintain an enormous crèche on county property every year in December. That status quo includes to contract only with individuals or private groups that will place Christian seasonal symbols up at Christmas." Gaylor added that the court's new policy fails to "address or answer the essential legal problem, which is that the huge nativity display dominating one corner of the courthouse stands in clear violation of 'Lynch v. Donnelly.'" The county is in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of it, she said. The county's new premises-use policy includes provisions that would require demonstrations attracting 200 or more people to acquire a certificate of insurance in the amount of $1 million. Approval of events on county property, with the exception of the Fair Park Complex that is exempted in the policy, can be approved by the county judge, who also has the option of referring the matter to the whole court. The FFRF argued in letters to county officials in December that in granting a non-profit group to erect the nativity display county officials had created a public forum. That action created a public forum that should also make room for messages contradictory to the nativity scene, the FFRF officials claimed. The atheist group leaders said they had contacted Henderson County officials and complained because Henderson County members of their 18,000-member national organization had sought their help. The organization's leaders originally asked for the nativity display to be removed, but later asked to present an opposing message. A rally attracting thousands in support of the nativity scene was held in Athens. A local newspaper editor urged local residents on his Facebook page to attend the event in support of the nativity scene, and he later reported that the video he recorded had 50,000 hits. The editor, whose newspaper has a circulation of less than 1,000 subscribers, proclaimed it one of the biggest stories of his career. Gaylor said the comments of a county commissioner proclaiming that other religious groups could put up displays while FFRF's could not, indicates county officials "consider the space a public forum reserved only for religion, which is unlawful, unfair and unconstitutional." Gaylor said FFRF has a current lawsuit in process over a similar situation in Warren, Mich. Gaylor said FFRF, which won a lawsuit in federal court in 2010 in Wisconsin declaring the National Day of Prayer to be a violation of the First Amendment, is "studying options." Pictured below: Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker.