Cobb County Commissioner Jerica Richardson Out of Office
After a multi-year legal fight that saw the Cobb County Board of Commissioners pass it’s own commission map over the one passed by the Georgia General Assembly, Cobb County Commissioner Jerica Richardson is now out of office as the Georgia Court of Appeals has declined to take up Richardson’s appeal from Superior Court Judge Ann Harris’s Dec. 31, 2024 ruling upholding a vacancy notice sent to Richardson by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners.
Richardson’s attorney, Justin O’Dell, filed the Appeal citing that the trial court failed to consider the Constitutional question as to whether or not the Georgia General Assembly could “‘draw out’ a sitting County Commissioner in the midst of a term to which she was duly elected to serve by use of general law” (see page 11 of the Appeal).
O’Dell also highlighted that the redistricting legislation not only provided that all commissioners retained their offices until the expiration of their term, but also until their successor is elected (see page 16 of the Appeal).
O’Dell told the Marietta Daily Journal, “It’s noteworthy that the issue of the validity of the map was actually never decided by an appellate court… That’s disappointment, because it is unprecedented. … what the Legislature did here was an unprecedented overreach, and it would have been nice to have that reviewed by our appellate courts.”
In August 2024, Cobb County Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill ruled the Commission maps adopted by the County Commission “unconstitutional” and outside the authority of the Home Rule provision of the Georgia Constitution, and ordered new elections for Districts 2 and 4. The ruling cancelled the elections scheduled for November and reopened candidate qualifying under the lines drawn by the General Assembly. The elections for the two Districts will occur April 29.
Until then, the denial to take up the appeal means Richardson is immediately out of office and the balance of partisan power on the Commission is split with two Republican and two Democratic Commissioners.
The ruling, however, did not affect District 4 Commissioner Monique Sheffield, whose district is also facing a special election. Sheffield’s residence remained in District 4 regardless of the map used.
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