Horton v. Johnson

A candidate for office was prohibited from running in the primary for County Commissioner pursuant to a local constitutional amendment which deemed county officers ineligible to hold another county office within a four year period following the expiration of his second successive term.

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Raford Horton appeals from the order of the Superior Court of Telfair County affirming the decision of the Probate Court of Telfair County that he was not eligible to be a candidate in the Democratic primary on July 20, 2010 for the office of Telfair County Commissioner, District Five. For the reasons that follow, we affirm. After Horton filed his notice of candidacy for the primary, he was notified by the Telfair County Superintendent of Elections that the Telfair County Tenure Law prohibited him from qualifying for the Commission post, a determination eventually upheld by the superior court.1 This Court has previously addressed the Telfair County Tenure Law.

The Telfair County Tenure Law Ga. L. 1963, p. 705 is a local constitutional amendment that states in pertinent part: Article XI, Section I, Paragraph I of the Constitution is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following: “The county officers of Telfair County shall not be eligible to succeed themselves after having served two successive terms in office, nor shall any such officer who is ineligible to succeed himself be eligible to hold any other elective county office within a four year period following the date of the expiration of his second successive term. . . .” Ga. L. 1963, p. 705. This amendment to Article XI, Section I, Paragraph I of the Georgia Constitution of 1945 was carried forward under the provisions of the Georgia Constitution of 1976 and approved by referendum in 1986 following the adoption of the Georgia Constitution of 1983. See Ga. L. 1986, p. 4527. The local amendment specifically references only Art. XI, Sec. I, Par. I of the Georgia Constitution of 1945. Article XI of the Constitution of 1945 and the corresponding article of the Constitution of 1983, Art. IX, establish each county as a body corporate and politic and contain general provisions regarding the election of county officers, their terms and compensation. . . .

Horton v. Johnson

A candidate for office was prohibited from running in the primary for County Commissioner pursuant to a local constitutional amendment which deemed county officers ineligible to hold another county office within a four year period following the expiration of his second successive term.

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