A Cumberland County judge will hear more testimony today to decide whether Penn State's plan to create a Dickinson School of Law campus at University Park violates the agreement made when the two schools merged in 1997.

Judge Edward Guido is expected to hear from several witnesses, including three members of the law school's Board of Governors and law school Dean Philip McConnaughay.

Transcripts will also be read from testimony Penn State President Graham Spanier made to lawyers on Feb. 28.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said Spanier will not attend today's hearing because he is backpacking in Europe with students. Mahon said Spanier was not needed during the first day of testimony on Feb. 18, and the university is not concerned about his absence today because the plaintiffs "haven't made any kind of a case."

Charles Rubendall, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said Spanier's testimony would function as though he were in the courtroom.

Board member G. Thomas Miller, the only witness to testify last month, said he thinks Spanier's absence will benefit the plaintiffs. "I would think it's a disadvantage to the defendants -- not to us," he said. "They'll have to make the call on that, but in my experience as a trial lawyer, it's always better to have a trial witness."

The hearing is the result of a lawsuit filed Feb. 3 by Miller and board members Leslie Anne Miller and Thomas Monteverde, both of whom are expected to testify today.

The suit alleges that the two-campus plan -- which includes a University Park law school campus and renovations to the existing Carlisle facilities -- violates the 1997 agreement, which states that Carlisle must remain the law school's primary location.

Under the new plan, Carlisle will stay open until June 2015, at which point the location's future is unclear. The Board of Governors gave final approval to the dual-campus plan by a 20-14 vote on Saturday, a little more than a year after the two sides began discussing the possibility of moving the law school to University Park.

Should Guido rule in favor of the plaintiffs, though, Saturday's vote would become null and void.

Rubendall said the hearing, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. in Cumberland County Courthouse, will continue where the last day's testimony ended. "Evidence will continue to be presented to the judge in support of the plaintiffs, and that will involve multiple live witnesses and documentary evidence," he said.

Dickinson spokeswoman Kelly Jones said law school officials would not comment while the case is ongoing.

Rubendall said he hopes all evidence and testimony will be presented in court today so Guido can make a ruling.