Cozy Inn mural lawsuit is over as Salina ends legal fight, moves to rewrite sign code

Photo: Courtesy Kansas Justice Institute

The city of Salina's legal fight over The Cozy Inn's UFO-themed mural is over. The City Commission will take no further action in the case, and city staff will instead rewrite the city's sign rules to conform to federal court rulings.

Mayor Mike Hoppock announced the decision in a statement Monday, Nov. 9, after commissioners met in executive session with legal counsel to discuss "the decision on the appeal of the Cozy Inn vs. City of Salina case," according to the meeting agenda.

"Further legal proceedings in this case would complicate and potentially delay the process of adopting the necessary code amendments," Hoppock said.

Staff are directed to prepare proposed amendments consistent with the district court and 10th Circuit rulings and return them to the commission for consideration, according to the statement.

City says ruling requires sign code changes

In the statement, Hoppock said the district court found the city's sign definition unconstitutional "despite the fact that Salina's definition was identical or substantially similar to definitions used by many other cities." He said the ruling "created significant uncertainty" about how signs and related displays could be regulated, and that the city had hoped the appeals court would clarify the scope of the lower court's ruling.

Hoppock said the 10th Circuit's decision "leaves some questions unresolved," but it "clearly determined the city must amend its regulations regarding murals and signs on walls, and review all portions of the current sign code."

According to the statement, the amendments will likely include:
- Deregulating wall displays so murals and signs are permitted equally.
- Revising the definition of "sign," or revising the code so that such a definition is no longer necessary.
- Reviewing regulations for other signs and displays to comply with the court's decision.

No fees or damages sought

Samuel G. MacRoberts, litigation director and general counsel for Kansas Justice Institute, the public-interest law firm that represents Cozy Inn owner Steve Howard, told Salina311 the firm will not seek money from the city.

"KJI made a decision to waive our attorney's fees," MacRoberts said. "And so we are not seeking any fees against the city. We've waived those. We've waived costs. And so we are not seeking any money from the city of Salina."

He said the case was about keeping the mural on the wall.

"This case has always been about trying to make sure that mural didn't get taken down, to make sure that it could get finished and not get taken down," MacRoberts said. "It was important to fight this free speech battle on behalf of Steve and the Cozy, and it was never about attorney's fees or damages or anything like that."

'Cannot play art critic'

MacRoberts said the ruling reaches beyond Salina. Decisions of the 10th Circuit apply in Kansas and the other states in the circuit.

"This has an impact not just in Kansas, but in the 10th Circuit, and what it really means is that the government cannot restrict free speech without real evidence, that there has to be a real reason to do it, and the government cannot play art critic," he said. "That's the important part of this case."

He said the city was "picking and choosing which murals stayed and which would go" based on the display itself, "and there was no evidence supporting that. And that's what the 10th Circuit decided."

"This is Steve's wall. It's not the city's wall," MacRoberts said, adding that point was "lost for a long time in all of this." He said Howard was "just painting a really cool ... UFO mural on his own wall."

MacRoberts said he was happy for Howard.

"I'm proud of him for standing up for himself and standing up for the Cozy, and it couldn't have been easy for him," he said. "I'm so grateful for his strength to do the right thing, which is to fight for your free speech rights." He added that he is glad the mural "gets to stay up."

"This is such an incredibly important victory for Steve and the Cozy, and for free speech rights," MacRoberts said. "The people of Salina ... are a little bit freer today because of this ruling."

Asked whether Kansas Justice Institute is considering other cases in Salina, MacRoberts said, "We are always trying to help people in Kansas whenever the government oversteps their bounds." He declined to say more.

How the case began

MacRoberts said details of how the city's enforcement began, including deposition testimony, are in the summary judgment motions and appellate briefs, which Kansas Justice Institute has posted publicly on its website. He said he would provide citations to the record. Salina311 will update this story with that information.

The ruling

On Oct. 30, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit affirmed a November 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge Toby Crouse. The panel held that Salina's sign code, as applied to the mural, violated the First Amendment, and that the city imposed a prior restraint on Howard's speech by leaving his permit application on hold. Judge Scott Matheson wrote the opinion.

Howard filed the lawsuit in early 2024 after city officials told him to stop painting the mural, which shows flying, burger-like UFOs on the side of the downtown restaurant. The city had treated the artwork as a regulated sign rather than an unregulated mural. The Cozy Inn has served hamburgers from its downtown storefront since 1922.

MacRoberts argued the appeal for Howard, with Kansas Justice Institute staff attorney Jeffrey S. Shaw on the brief. The city was represented on appeal by attorneys with Fairfield and Woods, P.C., of Denver.