Cobb County Commissioner Jerica Richardson’s seat is vacant, a Cobb Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday.
Judge Ann Harris’ ruling declares that Richardson is no longer a commissioner, as declared in the vacancy notice issued by her fellow board members in September.
Richardson appealed that vacancy notice, arguing she should be able to remain in office until her successor is elected on April 29, but Harris sided with Cobb County, booting the Democrat from office before the New Year.
The length of the commissioner’s term has been subject of great debate for more than two years, after she was drawn out of her seat in a map passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly in 2022.
Every 10 years, state lawmakers redraw electoral maps based on new census data. It is customary for lawmakers to pass the map suggested by a county’s local delegation. The Republicans in the statehouse bucked that tradition and did not pass a map proposed by the Democratically-controlled Cobb Legislative Delegation.
The county has maintained that no commissioner can serve on the board if they do not live in the district they want to represent. So, after Richardson was drawn out of her district, the commission’s Democratic majority passed its own “home rule” map to protect her seat.
The home rule map remained in place for nearly two years until it was struck down as unconstitutional in July by Cobb Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill, who ordered new special elections be held for the District 2 and 4 seats on the board under the now-recognized state map.
After Hill’s ruling, the county — which had bent over backward trying to protect Richardson’s seat for many months — became the force that finally pushed her out of it.
During the vacancy appeal hearing earlier this month, Richardson’s attorney, Justin O’Dell, said when the General Assembly drew her out of her seat, they “sought to undo the will of the voters” who had elected their first majority female commission led by its first Black chairwoman, Lisa Cupid.
“There’s no doubt, there’s no sugar coating it. Members of the General Assembly couldn’t take what the voters of Cobb County did,” O’Dell said. “Members of the General Assembly sought to undo the will of the voters of Cobb County.”
O’Dell argued that since the map was passed without local support, it was inherently not a piece of local legislation. He added that if the court were to declare Richardson’s seat vacant, it would set a dangerous precedent where any elected official could be forced out of office during their term with redistricting.
“There is no end to this,” he said. “... It is a procedural process ingrained to protect counties like Cobb County, and that’s what was lost here. So that we don’t have a representative in Hahira whose vote matters just as much as everybody on the Cobb Delegation determining what we do here in Cobb County.”
But in her ruling, Judge Harris wrote that Richardson’s argument that she should be able to stay in office until her successor is elected “turns a blind eye” to clear parts of county code which require commissioners to live in their districts.
And under the state map now in effect, Richardson does not.
Harris was also clear that officials can be drawn out of their districts mid-term.
“Even without a change in the official’s residence, her eligibility to hold the office can end mid-term with the implementation of a new map that changes the boundaries of the geographical district from which she was elected,” Harris wrote.
Richardson could appeal her decision, which would delay her exit from office. O’Dell told the MDJ earlier this month that should the vacancy hold, the county would appoint someone to fill the seat until the April 29 special election.
In a Tuesday text, O'Dell wrote that Richardson was disappointed by the ruling.
“Commissioner Richardson is disappointed by the decision and the precedent it sets for the General Assembly interfering with decisions made by voters. However she respects our court system and the rule of law. We will discuss options moving forward. As always, she remains committed to Cobb County and the people who elected her to serve," O'Dell wrote.
In a Tuesday email, the county’s communications team wrote that it was pleased with Harris’ ruling.
“The Court’s well-reasoned decision affirmed the correctness of the County’s determination that the Office of BOC District 2 Commissioner is vacant, given that Commissioner Richardson does not reside within BOC District 2 under the currently applicable state legislative map,” the statement reads.
Richardson was first elected in 2020 to serve a four-year term set to expire on Dec. 31.
(6) comments
As a Republican leaning voter, I am disappointed too in this ruling. But the Democrats brought this on themselves with their "homerule" crap. Ms. Richardson should have been able to stay in her office until the election of her successor.
Despite what she says, she doesn't respect our court system and the rule of law and neither do her two counterparts on the commission. This was clear cut from the beginning, and it was a disservice to the citizens of Cobb County for the three Democratic commissioners and Cobb County staff to pull this stunt. There should be a strong case to go back and invalidate every one of Richardson's votes. What a waste of county resources!
And looking at the current Commissioners we can expect more of this type of governing from the board.
After all is said and done, the 3 democrats that started this mess should be required to reimburse the county for all this illegal ranging that they created.
This started with the GOP-led legislature deciding to undo the will of the Cobb County voters
I think it started with a Dem drawn map that would have turned D3 purple and likely blue changing the district split from 2-2 to 3-1. The R's countered with a map that kept the likely split 2-2. The BOC adopted the Dem map as the home rule map. Politics on both sides. Other Dem controlled counties have not picked up the travesty and terrible precedent issue. Consider why?
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