The Cobb County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted to give Jerica Richardson notice that her District Two seat is vacant, given that a district map passed by the state Legislature has removed her from her district.
However, Richardson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after Tuesday’s unanimous vote that she now will appeal the vacancy determination to the Cobb County Superior Court. In the meantime, she will continue serving as a de facto commissioner.
“This is part of the process,” she said after Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting.
In 2022, the County Commission tried to pass its own map using its Home Rule powers, rebuking GOP state lawmakers who passed a district map that drew Richardson, a Democrat, out of her seat mid-term. The county’s novel interpretation of law was heavily criticized by officials, including the board’s two Republicans, legal experts and constituents, and was struck down in court nearly two years later.
A judge ruled the county-passed map as unconstitutional in July and rejected the county’s last-ditch legal effort to defend the map.
Last month, the commission voted to end its redistricting fight by agreeing to move forward under the district map passed by the state Legislature. The board also voted on the question of whether to give Richardson notice that her seat was vacant, but it failed to pass in a 2-2 split vote.
On Tuesday, commissioners Keli Gambrill, JoAnn Birrell and Monique Sheffield voted 3-0 to give Richardson notice of the vacancy. Richardson recused herself from the vote and Cobb’s other commissioner, Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, did not attend the board meeting as she was attending the Cobb Chamber’s annual visit to Washington, D.C.
Richardson gave a statement toward the end of the meeting, after the vote.
“I’ve always contested two things: that if my term were cut short, even if just one day, it would be an injustice well beyond just me,” she said from the dais. “And secondly that the checks and balances that exist within our layers of government are sacred and are there to ensure that no agency grows too powerful or too large.”
She added, “Setting a precedent that any elected official could possibly be removed at any time is dangerous, and now we are watching the process happen before our very eyes.”
Cobb County spokesman Ross Cavitt said if her appeal to Cobb Superior Court fails, the board would appoint someone else to represent District Two.
County attorneys have argued that because Richardson does not live in her district anymore, she must vacate her seat, citing county code that says commissioners “must continue to reside in that district during that person’s term of office or that office shall become vacant.”
Other attorneys and lawmakers have previously argued that Richardson should not have to vacate her seat because she still lives in the district as it existed when she was elected, including state Rep. David Wilkerson.
Birrell, a Republican, and Sheffield, a Democrat, both said during Tuesday’s meeting that the board never intended to draw Richardson out of her district but that they now must follow the law.
“We have said all along that it was not fair or right that Commissioner Richardson was drawn out of her district,” Birrell said.
“It was never the intent to remove her from office,” Birrell added. “However once the state legislative map was approved at our last meeting, that causes a vacancy in the seat because the District Two commissioner does not live in the district with the state map.”
Birrell also commented on her vote last month against giving Richardson notice that her seat was vacant.
“I thought I was doing the right thing by trying to keep her in office at the last meeting, but I have to follow the law and uphold the Constitution,” she said.
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