Hearings set for disqualified sheriff candidate appeals

Superior Court sessions to hear appeals from two sheriff’s candidates the Muscogee elections board disqualified May 2 have been scheduled for Monday, May 16, in Judge Andy Prather’s courtroom on the Columbus Government Center’s 11th floor.

Georgia’s Third District Court Administrator Joe Baden has appointed Senior Judge Gary McCorvey of Tifton to hear the appeals from Republican Mark LaJoye and Democrat Donna Tompkins. LaJoye filed his appeal on Thursday, and Tompkins’ was filed Friday.

One hearing has been set for 10 a.m. and the other at 2 p.m., but it was unclear which case would be heard when.

Unlike disqualified sheriff candidates Pam Brown and Robert Keith Smith, who filed their appeals jointly, Tompkins and LaJoye filed theirs separately, so their cases will not be heard at the same time.

The court administrator appoints judges from outside the six-county Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit that includes Muscogee to avoid the appearance of local judges influencing elections.

The elections board disqualified LaJoye and Tompkins for failing to file affidavits swearing they graduated from high school and failing to file certified copies of their birth certificates by a March 16 deadline.

Tompkins’ appeal states that she offered to provide her high school diploma and a certified copy of her birth certificate when she visited the county elections office on March 15, the same day she swore in an affidavit that she was qualified to run for sheriff, but office workers told her the documents were not necessary.

LaJoye in his appeal said he provided a photocopy of his certified birth certificate on March 10, when he also gave election workers a copy of his high school diploma.

One issue is whether the state law setting the qualifications for sheriff candidates requires two affidavits, one filed at the time of qualifying stating the candidate meets all the criteria the statute requires, and a second filed within three business days after qualifying ends, swearing the candidate is a high school graduate or equivalent and stating the school and date of graduation.

Another law requires Georgians running for any public office to file affidavits declaring their candidacy and swearing to their current address, voting precinct, residential history and other facts. The Georgia Secretary of State’s website provides affidavit forms for candidates to download.

At the bottom of that form is a notice stating candidates for sheriff and several other offices “must file an additional affidavit in accordance with the listed code section and may have other requirements in order to be qualified to seek office.” The code section listed for the sheriff’s affidavit is a specific subsection of the qualification law, designated 15-16-1(c)(2).

That’s the subsection requiring sheriff’s candidates to file the affidavit swearing they meet the law’s qualifications, and the Secretary of State’s website offers an affidavit form for that, too.

The site provides no affidavit form for candidates to swear they graduated high school, and state when and where. LaJoye maintains no such affidavit exists, else a form for it would be provided.

Relying on its attorneys’ interpretation of the law, the elections board has decided sheriff’s candidates must file a total of three affidavits: the declaration of candidacy required of all residents seeking public office, the sheriff’s affidavit swearing candidates meet the law’s standards for seeking the office, and a second sheriff’s affidavit swearing they have a high school diploma or equivalent, and citing the school and date of graduation.

Both LaJoye and Tompkins are asking McCorvey to overrule the board and reinstate the two candidates.

The board on March 30 disqualified Brown and Smith for failing to submit fingerprints for a criminal background check by March 16, which was three business days after qualifying ended March 11, the deadline set by law. Their Superior Court appeals were denied April 21.

The four disqualifications have left incumbent Sheriff John Darr as the only viable candidate, though his challengers’ names remain on ballots for the May 24 party primaries. Darr plans to run as an independent in the November general election.

This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Hearings set for disqualified sheriff candidate appeals."