In decisions yesterday, the Madison County Superior Court decided what happens when individuals, who are not statutorily eligible to hold elective office because of past felony convictions, are in fact elected to office and are then challenged by the losing candidates. As reported (access the full story here) in this morning's (4/11/03) Indianapolis Star:
A Madison County court decision that keeps two convicted felons from taking public office has set a legal precedent for the way the state will handle future disputed elections, officials say. Madison Superior Court Judges Dennis Carroll and Jack Brinkman have ruled that Republican Thomas Jackson and Democrat Buddy Patterson cannot take seats on the Madison County Council because they are ineligible to serve.A story (access it here) also appears in the Anderson, IN Herald Bulletin. It begins:
Incumbent members of the Madison County Council Dan Dykes and John Bostic Jr. have been named to serve another four-year term after winning a court battle. Both Dykes and Bostic lost bids for re-election in November to Buddy Patterson and Thomas Jackson. But after the election it was learned that both Patterson and Jackson were convicted felons and thereby ineligible to serve.
IC 3-8-1-5 deals with disqualification "from holding or being a candidate for an elected office." Access it here.
[I am trying to obtain a copy of the Court rulings for posting here. If you can help, please contact me.]
Posted by Marcia Oddi at April 11, 2003 08:36 AM