DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad wants a judge to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to force him to reopen two shuttered state mental health centers.  Attorneys for the Republican governor filed a motion Monday in Polk County District Court, asking a judge to throw out the suit from the head of the state’s largest public employees union and 20 Democratic lawmakers.

The lawsuit claims closing the centers in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant was illegal because Iowa law requires the state to operate them. But the filing from the state Attorney General’s office questions that interpretation of state law and whether the group has grounds to sue.

A spokesman for Danny Homan, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, says they will respond soon and hope the case will continue.