Hurley residency still in question
 

Jeremy Nash news-herald.net

A few months after 9th Judicial District Attorney General Russell Johnson ruled Loudon County Commissioner Julia Hurley in violation of residency requirements for her elected position, both sides remain locked in their stances.

Johnson’s letter to Hurley’s attorney, T. Scott Jones, in December stated she must either move back into the second district before March 6, a few days after the March 3 presidential primary, or resign her position. If nothing is done, Johnson could seek an ouster suit.

Johnson has not wavered. He said Friday he had no update on the situation and that he was standing by his letter.

Jones responded in a Feb. 6 letter that “case law and the information that I have indicates that it falls in Commissioner Hurley’s favor.”

“Actually, I believe it is beyond the purview of your legal authority and remains something to be determined by the Loudon County Administrator of Elections,” the letter reads. “Therefore, I am, by copy of this correspondence, notifying the Commissioner of Elections of our intent for Ms. Hurley to vote in the upcoming election with her residence being in the second district.”

The letter was also sent to Loudon County Mayor Rollen “Buddy” Bradshaw.

Hurley represents the second district but moved to the fifth district. The issue was raised in July.

Jones’ letter shows a 12-month lease agreement for her former residence on West 5th Avenue in Lenoir City. The lease ends Aug. 1.

“She’ll be departing the residence in August as far as the lessor, that lady that leased the residence in the second district, and then obviously will be taking the steps necessary to put it back in order so Ms. Hurley can effectuate her residence there,” Jones said. “... My opinion was she didn’t intend to leave her district. Obviously, she had an opportunity to buy a piece of real estate and to profit from that purchase and make some money associated with it, but I furnished that to the general. He and I have spoke a number of times to it.

“I’m confident that we’ll be able to work out some middle ground concerning it because it sets a dangerous precedent when we allow basically another elected official to start throwing stones at someone else that’s elected,” he added. “I think she’s capably representing her commission district. It’s not uncommon for somebody to move for a short period of time. That may be two or three years from the district. We talk about, ‘Oh, that person’s move’s different’.”

Jones in the letter said he could “cite a litany of case law,” but pointed to Denny v. Sumner County, a similar case in 1916 decided by the Tennessee Supreme Court. He also noted “some guidance that is provided to us by Judge (Mike) Pemberton’s recent case that went all the way up to the Supreme Court of the state of Tennessee.”

“What I did, obviously he doesn’t have the same resources as I do, so I was able to effectuate quite a bit of case law research and I provided him all of the case law relative to that so that he could basically report back to whoever he needs to report back to that Ms. Hurley was on solid legal ground with regards to what she did,” Jones said.

Loudon County Attorney Bob Bowman has chosen not to seek an ouster suit. Jones believes Johnson should do the same.

“His responsibility is to enforce the laws of the state of Tennessee,” Jones said. “That doesn’t extend to telling other elected officials to do their job with regards to that. I actually supplied him a litany of case law, including most saliently a supreme court case that dealt with the issue of residence. We call it ‘shepardizing’ in the law business, which means it’s basically a system of citations which we’re able to tell whether or not a case has been overruled. It’s never been overruled in the state of Tennessee, so that Ms. Hurley was completely within her rights, and is still within her rights.”

Loudon County Commission in August sought help from Johnson.

Bradshaw said he could both sides of the argument.

“I understand where the district attorney’s coming from it. I also understand Commissioner Hurley’s argument,” he said. “I’m no lawyer and I’m glad to leave it up into their hands. ... I think it’ll all come down to March 6 depending on what happens between now and then.”