It didn't take long. Less than 24 hours after Omaha voted to annex Elkhorn, Elkhorn fired back by filing two lawsuits aimed at blocking the municipal takeover.

Elkhorn officials issued a brief statement following the filings saying they remain committed to their own annexation plans.

Those plans involve swallowing up enough neighbors to boost the population past 10,000. State law says that's the magic number for avoiding being annexed by another city.

The Omaha City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to formally annex Elkhorn in a contentious battle pitting Omaha expansion against Elkhorn independence.

In the legal challenge, Elkhorn maintains that they began their annexation work first, the borders between the two cities are not contiguous and Omaha failed to provide adequate warning of its plans.

The lawsuits contend that at no point have the two cities ever been closer than 1.4 miles from each other. Elkhorn officials also claim that Omaha violated the open meetings law at a special meeting of the city council held on February 22. They claim that all subsequent actions taken in the annexation process are invalid.

The lawsuits have been filed in Douglas County District Court. Elkhorn is asking for an injunction to put the brakes on the annexation. A hearing on that request is scheduled on March 18th.

Elkhorn has scheduled public hearings on its annexation plans Friday evening, March 11. The first is a Planning Commission hearing at 5 p.m. and that will be followed by a City Council hearing at 7. Both public hearings will be held at the Elkhorn High School auditorium.