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By Editor Becky Watts
ZEBULON - Pike County Superior Court Judge Tommy Hankinson ruled on Friday, August 28, 2013 that the Board of Education (BOE) District 4 Board of Education seat is now vacant. A decision will need to be made by the Pike County Board of Education whether to appoint someone to that seat or hold a new election.
This is not the first lawsuit filed to contest the July Primary and August Run Off. The first two lawsuits ended with mutual dismissals. Another lawsuit was filed in October of 2012 that was dismissed in December of 2012. And the current lawsuit was filed in 2013.
Candidates, Qualifying Times - The following people qualified for the Board of Education District 4 seat held by John L. Wynn, Sr. in the July 31, 2012 election: Connie Green, Robert E. Adams, Jr., Walter James Brooks, and Marvin (Marty) Wynn. Qualification for this non-partisan seat was held on May 23 through May 25, 2013 prior to the Department of Justice giving necessary pre-clearance notification that the federal government approved the new voting lines and that there was not diluting of minority votes.
Election Results - The results of the 2012 run off between Jim Brooks and Connie Green are as follows: Jim Brooks received 153 votes (56.88%) and Connie Green received 113 (42.01%) of the vote.
Department of Justice - For a full explanation of the need for Department of Justice (DOJ) pre-clearance of Georgia voting maps and the timeline that played a direct part in Pike’s 2012 election, click here. Pre-clearance was given on June 15, 2012 and ballots were ready to go out to absentee voters including overseas military personnel on June 16, 2012 in preparation for the election that was held according to state guidelines on July 31, 2012. The current lawsuit alleges that the pre-clearance letter from the Department of Justice was received by Pike County School officials prior to the date of the July 31, 2012 election but was not received until after ballots has been printed and mailed out to absentee voters.
Pike County Times has not been able to find any documentation which gives a timeline when redistricting is required to be completed with regard to any election. There was precedent that went both ways in regard to voting with the old maps or waiting for the new ones. Pike County Times found one county that had a lawsuit filed prior to the elections that stopped the election and delayed it until the date of the run off election. (The first lawsuit was not filed here in Pike County until after the run off was completed and voters had chosen a candidate.) However, Pike County Times also found other counties that were in the same predicament as Pike that chose to go with the old voting maps. One county even received permission from the Secretary of State’s Office to go with the old maps for their election. This information is included in the article linked above.
The predicament that Pike County was placed in by the DOJ will no longer be a factor in future elections because the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision in June 2013 that the Voting Rights Act will no longer be in force so states like Georgia will no longer be required to submit their maps to the DOJ for approval prior to their use in elections. The final paragraph of the ruling in this lawsuit specifically points out that the Voting Rights Act is the reason for this lawsuit. For more on the Voting Rights Act decision and the states that were affected by it, click here.
There were two complaints and counterclaims including requests for attorney's fees from both sides that were filed to contest the July Election and Run off. Both complaints were filed on August 20, 2012, the day before the Run off.
August 20, 2012 District 5 Lawsuit - Patricia Beckham filed a petition against Elections Superintendent Lynn Brandenburg and staff and Board of Education District 5 candidates April Byrd and Parrish Swift in Pike County Superior Court saying that she was “incorrectly registered” to vote in School Board District 4 according to the lines of the new school board districts that were approved by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor on February 27, 2012 and approved by the Department of Justice on June 15, 2012. She ended her petition by saying, “The election superintendent and staff, failed to execute their obligation to the people of the 5th district school board voters by halting or delaying the election until all issues were resolved with respect to the NEW lines and voting stations.”
August 20, 2012 District 4 Lawsuit - Robert E. Adams, Jr. filed a case against Elections Superintendent Lynn Brandenburg as well as the other candidates in the race, Jim Brooks, Connie, Green and Marty Wynn. Mr. Adams alleged in this complaint that the election and run off violated the “one person, one vote” concept in the Fourteenth Amendment which says that “(1) member from EACH district SHALL be elected from each such district.” August 20, 2012 Lawsuit Results - Both cases were heard on the same day and dismissed by a mutual agreement of both parties on September 24, 2012. An explanation about the lawsuits and the ruling by Judge Ison can be found in the October 9, 2012 lawsuit article.
October 4, 2012 Lawsuit - On October 4, 2012, M. Michael Kendall of Griffin filed another lawsuit in the Pike County Superior Court citing constitutional objections of "one person, one vote" and the Fourteenth Amendment with Robert E. Adams, Jr., Patricia A. Beckham, Martha J. O'Neal, and Betty Willis suing the Pike County School District, Lynn Brandenburg, in his official capacity as the Pike County Elections Superintendent, and Walter James "Jim" Brooks. This suit alleged that Mr. Jim Brooks was elected to the District 4 Board of Education seat but that he lives in District 5 according to the new district maps though he was allowed to qualify under the old district maps. The lawsuit asked for attorney's fees, demanded that Mr. Brooks be declared ineligible to serve as the District 4 representative, and that the District 3, 4, and 5 School Board elections on July 31 and August 21 be declared invalid and that new qualifying and elections be held under the new maps.
October 4, 2012 Lawsuit Results – The case was heard by Judge William H. Ison on December 17, 2012. M. Michael Kendall of The Kendall Law Firm, P.C. in Griffin spoke on the behalf of the Plaintiffs, W. Brent Hyde of Hall, Booth, Smith & Slover, P.C. from Tifton represented the Pike County Board of Education, Robert L. Morton of Morton, Morton & Associate L.L.C. in Zebulon spoke on the behalf of Elections Superintendent Lynn Brandenburg, and Walter James "Jim" Brooks was present on his own behalf.
Mr. Kendall also filed a Writ of Quo Warranto at that time challenging Mr. Brooks' right to hold office because he does not live in the district in which he will be serving if he is allowed to take the oath of office as the District 4 representative. This Writ of Quo Warranto, according to legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com, is based on old English law wherein someone can challenge an individual's right to hold office.
Judge Ison dismissed the Writ of Quo Warranto based on a 2009 Supreme Court case because permission was not obtained from the court to file this complaint. He also said that there was another adequate way to challenge the election. Judge Ison then dismissed the rest of the case because O.C.G.A. § 21-2-524(a) was not followed which states that a petition to contest a primary or election must be filed "within five days after the official consolidation of the returns of that particular office or question and certification by the election official". To read the details about this hearing, click here.
This lawsuit was then appealed to the Supreme Court of Georgia but was withdrawn when the case went to Pike County Superior Court in 2013. Board of Education District 4 Representative took the oath of office and began serving citizens in the district on January 1, 2013.
Judge Tommy Hankinson heard the Quo Warranto action in Robert E. Adams, Jr., et. al. vs. Walter James “Jim” Brooks on March 8, 2013. This case challenged whether Mr. Jim Brooks was qualified to represent citizens in the Pike County Board of Education District 4 seat (according to the 2002 school district lines that were used in this election) because his residence is located within the new District 5 school board district according to the election district maps that were approved in the 2012 Georgia Legislature. Mr. Adams and the other plaintiffs in this case asked that the office of District 4 representative be declared vacant because Mr. Brooks does not live in District 4 according to the new Board of Education district maps.
Through his attorney, L. Scott Mayfield of Smith, Welch, Webb, and White LLC, Mr. Brooks asked for time to answer the Quo Warranto even though he was served on a copy of the lawsuit on February 26, 2013. The court was advised that Mr. Brooks thought that the Pike County Board of Education (BOE) was going to provide him with representation because he is a sitting member of the BOE, but he was advised on Mary 1, 2013 that he had to hire his own representation. Judge Hankinson ruled that Mr. Brooks had 30 days to answer the case. Click here to read more about this day in court.
Update 9.3.13: Pike County Times obtained a copy of the Defendant's Response that was filed on June 7, 2013 by Jim Brooks' attorney. According to this response, "The 2012 map did not become legal and if effect until the date of preclearance, June 15, 2012, which was after qualification and after the ballots were pirnted and mailed to certain voters." [Note from the Editor: Emphasis was in the original document and printed verbatim.] It provided a basis for the argument that Mr. Brooks should be removed from office because he did not move to another location after the election and argued that there was no challenge to the election or run off under the Election Code so the election is "presumably valid". It also says that there is nowhere in O.C.G.A. 20-2-51(a) or anywhere else listed by the Plaintiffs that says that the Mr. Brooks is now ineligible to serve simply because the districts changed because of redisticting.
Later on in the document, after laying out a case against this Quo Warranto, Mr. Brooks' attorney argued: "The election superintendent did not withhold or strike the Defendent's name from the ballot [due to the location of his home on the basis of the 2002 maps], and this Court should not substitute its judgment for that of the election superintendent."
Click here to read a copy of this response. End of 9.3.13. update
On August 28, 2013, Judge Tommy Hankinson made a ruling on this case. The final order states that: “There are no genuine issues of fact remaining, only questions of law.” It went on to state that the issue at hand is whether Mr. Brooks was qualified to be elected to represent the citizens of Pike County’s BOE District 4 according to the new map based on the 2010 census. The order states that the new BOE school district maps became law “effectively immediately upon receiving DOJ clearance on June 15, 2012” and that the old map was immediately repealed.
It also states that according to O.C.G.A. 45-2-1-(6), persons are ineligible to hold public office unless they qualify under state, county district and circuit rules with the Pike County School Board rule passed on April 18, 1967 which states that “No person shall be eligible to represent a district unless he has been a resident of the district from which he offers as a candidate for at least one year immediately preceding the date of the election. In the event that a member moves his residence from the district he represents, his place on the board shall immediately become vacant.”
The ending of this order goes on to state that the Court “is not unmindful” that it is removing a citizen who was elected by the community from office in which he has been serving since the beginning of the year. It states that the Court “found no wrongdoing whatsoever” with Mr. Brooks and that he “cannot be faulted for his acts in this matter.” However, the Court states that it must apply the law “as it finds it to be” and the Court finds that Mr. Brooks does not reside in BOE District 4 according to the new voting maps that were approved by the State Legislature and the Department of Justice in 2012 so he cannot represent the citizens of District 4 on the Pike County Board of Education.
The final paragraph reads in its entirety as follows: “Finally, the Court feels compelled to note that this needless litigation arises solely as the result of the application of the outdated preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act which the Supreme Court of this country has ruled are no longer applicable to Pike County.”
Click here to read a copy of the final order on this case.
Mr. Kendall, attorney for the Plaintiffs in this case, advised Pike County Times of the following on Saturday in regard to this case. “This is a fairly straight forward matter in that a school board member must reside in the election district that he or she represents. In this case Mr. Brooks does not reside in district 4 and therefore cannot serve as the representative from that district. The statute under which the election was held had been repealed and therefore the entire election is called into question.”
Mr. Mayfield, attorney for Mr. Brooks advised Pike County Times of the following on Friday: “We appreciate the hard work and consideration Judge Hankinson gave to this matter, but are obviously disappointed in the decision. At this time, we are weighing our options and considering whether or not to file an appeal.”
Update 9.3.13: Superintendent Michael Duncan advised Pike County Times that Pike County has local legislation that guides the Board of Education on a procedure to fill a vacancy on the board if it occurs within the first two years. Though he has not spoken with the Board about this matter as of yet, he said that in the past, the Board has advertised the vacancy in the legal organ (which is the Pike Journal Reporter) and accepted letters of interest from those who would like to fill the vacant position. Board members would then interview the candidates and choose someone to fill the remainder of this term of office.
Update 9.9.13: The Pike County Board of Education has announced a vacancy in the District 4 seat. Anyone who is interested in serving in this capacity should mail or deliver a letter of interest to: The Pike County Board of Education, 16 West Jackson Street, Zebulon GA 30295, Attention: Ryan Edge, Chairman.
The letter must be received by noon on September 20, 2013. The Board of Education will schedule and conduct interviews to choose a candidate to represent District 4 for the remainder of the term which just began on January 1, 2013. Interested persons must live in District 4. Click here to review lines from this district.