The Mississippi Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that Scotty Meredith did not live in the city limits and therefore was not a legitimate candidate in the 2021 Clarksdale Municipal Election.
In a longer-than-normal 21-page decision released today the state’s high court basically said the lower court and Coahoma County Special Circuit Court Judge Andrew Howorth did not err in ruling that Meredith did not live in Clarksdale at the time he filed qualifying papers saying he did.
Chief Justice Michael Randolph and Justices James Kitchens, Leslie King, James Maxwell, Dawn Beam, Robert Chamberlin, David Ishee affirmed the lower courts ruling.
“For the first time, this Court analyzes whether the trial court applied the proper standard of proof under Section 23-15-300,” the court said in its ruling. “Ultimately, the trial court did not err as to the burden of proof, and, consequently, Meredith’s domicile is reviewed for manifest error.”
“The trial court did not err by holding Meredith to the burden of absolute proof,” the court said in its conclusion. “Furthermore, given the heightened burden, the trial court did not err by concluding that Meredith was not a resident of Clarksdale for election purposes. The judgment of the 19 Coahoma County Circuit Court is affirmed.
Justice Josiah Coleman concurred but offered a second opinion pointing to the facts that timing and attempts to remedy the paperwork might have eliminated the problem, but the law as written said there has to be “absolute proof” of residency.
The ruling today made Mayor Chuck Espy and Cassandra Wilson the only legitimate candidates in the June 8, 2021 city election. Espy, a longtime politician, won that citywide race with 964 votes to Wilson, a relative unknown, getting 648 votes.
Today ruling makes Chuck Espy the mayor of Clarksdale.
Less than a month after that election - in a controversial Executive Session - the city voted for one of the biggest city pay raises in the history of Mississippi with Espy’s annual salary going from $86,421 to $122,421.92. The annual compensation for a Commissioner went from $26,650 to $46,650. Both Mayor and Commissioners also have expense accounts of approximately $10,000 each.
A more detailed story on the court’s ruling will be published in Wednesday’s Clarksdale Press Register
Background
Today’s ruling puts to rest a long and drawn-out process that started in the winter of 2021, shortly after candidates qualified for city elections.
The Clarksdale Municipal Democratic Committee denied Mayoral candidate Meredith a spot on the ballot and Meredith filed suit in Coahoma County Circuit Court in February seeking to remain in the race.
Incumbent Espy brought a petition to the City Democratic Committee challenging the residency of Meredith. The hearing was held Tuesday afternoon Feb. 16 with the City Democratic Committee ruling Meredith had not lived in the city limits of Clarksdale for two year.
A new opinion by the Mississippi Attorney General just two days before the final qualifying day Feb. 5 expanded the scope of the state law saying a candidate must live in the ward in which they are seeking office.
Espy and Meredith filed as Democrats. Wilson ran as an Independent. Throwing Meredith out of the race made Espy, a heavy favorite to win his second term as Clarksdale’s Mayor.
At the heart of the issue was where Meredith lived. Meredith said had lived in Clarksdale for two years. Espy claimed Meredith lived in the county but not in the city limits.
Papers and even a copy of Meredith’s Mississippi Driver’s License were presented to the City Democratic Committee.
The Clarksdale Municipal Democratic Committee at that time was made up of:
Gregory Neely, Ward 1.
Alfred Allen, Ward 2.
Rena Butler, Ward 3.
Sherley Fields, Ward 4.
Contesting residency is not new to Clarksdale and accusations of exactly where a candidate “stays” were part of the 2017 campaign when Ward 4 Commissioner Ed Seals challenged the residency of Darron “Gucci” Griffin.
Courts across the state have ruled that “a person’s domicile in election matters is the place where he has his true, fixed, permanent home and principal establishment, and to which whenever he is absent, he has intention of returning.”
Homestead exemption, utility bills, where they park their vehicle at night and the statement of neighbors can be used to establish residency.
Meredith initially sued the Clarksdale Municipal Democratic Committee after they ruled he had not lived inside the city limits – as required by state law – for the past two years.
That sent the case to Howorth’s court in March 2021.
Howorth based his decision on three points:
• Meredith provided conflicting addresses in an effort to establish residency in the City of Clarksdale for two years immediately preceding the day of election.
• Meredith changed his voter registration to an address on his qualifying papers with the city, which is not his legal place of residence.
• That as of March 18, the Meredith’s “have continuously enjoyed the benefits of homestead exemption on their home located in Coahoma County at 116 Meredith Road, Alligator, Mississippi, outside the City of Clarksdale.”
Howorth’s ruling followed six hours of testimony that covered everything from who saw Meredith living at his 314 E. Second apartment and why he did not live at his lake house to his homestead exemption records, federal tax filings, driver’s license and voting records.
To run for a City of Clarksdale office, the candidate must be a qualified voter and not have been convicted of certain crimes or misdemeanors.
State law says anyone who seeks to influence the vote of any person by absentee ballot or offers anything of value for a vote, or destroys absentee ballots can be charged with voter fraud and upon conviction be fined not less than $500 and not more than $5,000 and be sentenced from one to five years in the state penitentiary, or both. The statute also includes those who offer to submit a ballot for something of value.
Questions or concerns about voting issues, policy and procedure for any election should be directed to the Secretary of State’s office at (601) 359-1350.
Questions or concerns about candidate qualifications, ethics and conduct while in office should be directed to the Attorney General’s Public Integrity Division at (601) 359-4258.
Qualifications vary from office to office but the main requirements are to be a resident and qualified voter from the ward, district or county they plan to represent. Candidates may not have been convicted of a federal crime or certain Mississippi crimes defined as felonies punishable by incarceration in a state penitentiary, unless they have received a full pardon. They also may not be convicted of a crime in another state that is considered a felony under Mississippi law.
Candidates cannot have been legally declared mentally incompetent.
