Four of the six villages whose mayor’s courts would be dissolved this week by a new state law are suing to stay in business.

Linndale, West Millgrove, Belmore and Brice filed the suit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court saying the state is discriminating against them. A hearing on their request for a temporary restraining order was scheduled for this afternoon.

The most active of those courts is Linndale, which handled more than 4,600 cases in 2011, most of them tied to speeding tickets on the fewer than 500 yards of I-71 that are within the tiny village’s limits.

Critics argue that the mayor’s courts have a built-in conflict based on how much of the budgets of the small villages comes from the courts.

Gov. John Kasich signed a bill at the end of December that bans the mayor’s courts in villages of fewer than 200 people. The law is scheduled to take effect Friday.