Mayor Smith Urges Speedy Determination of Residency Question

ANDERSON, IN - Anderson Mayor Kevin S. Smith said a lawsuit challenging the eligibility and qualifications of Kris Ockomon to serve as the mayor should be settled as expeditiously as possible. The statement is based upon a lawsuit, filed by a group of five Anderson voters last week in Madison Circuit Court. The lawsuit maintains that Kevin S. Smith should remain in office pending the court's final ruling and challenges the eligibility and qualifications of Kris Ockomon to serve as the mayor of Anderson based upon statutory residency requirements.

"I strongly urge both Mr. Ockomon and the five residents who filed suit to make every effort to resolve this matter as expeditiously as humanly possible so that this matter can be put to rest and the citizens of Anderson can continue to build on the successes of the past four years," said Mayor Smith.

Mayor Smith said that after meeting with the attorneys for the five residents - experienced and recognized experts in the field of election law – he believes the question of Mr. Ockomon's eligibility and qualifications to be mayor based upon his residency deserves a full hearing in a court of law.

Mayor Smith said that attorneys for the five residents believe that according to Article 15, Section 3 of the Indiana Constitution, Kris Ockomon has failed to meet the statutory residency requirements to be the mayor of Anderson and is not qualified to be the mayor. The pertinent statute reads as follows:

"Whenever it is provided in this Constitution, or in any law which may be hereinafter passed, that any officer, other than a member of the General Assembly, shall hold office for any given term, the same shall be construed to mean, that such officer shall hold his office for such term, and until his successor shall be haven elected and qualified."

Mayor Smith said the attorneys who filed the suit on behalf of the five Anderson residents further advised him that the Indiana Supreme Court has held as follows:

"When the elective term ends and no qualified person has been elected and qualified to take over the duties of the office, the person holding the office at the end of the elective term has a right and a duty, commanded by Art. 15, Section 3 (of the Indiana Constitution) to hold the office and discharge its duties until his successor shall have been elected and qualified. This service is not a part of his elective term, but is a constitutional term granted to avoid a vacancy – and to assure an ever-continuing government in any and every emergency."

Said Mayor Smith, "Given the obvious potential for a vacancy in the office of mayor based upon the lawsuit which has been filed, and given my constitutional duty to remain in office, I am today announcing that I have not and will not be surrendering the office of mayor pending a determination by the courts as to whether Kris Ockomon is or is not qualified to be the mayor of Anderson. In the meantime, I will be cooperating with Mr. Ockomon to every extent possible to expedite a determination by the courts."

Mayor Smith said he has been advised by attorneys for the residents who have filed suit that they tried in vain over the weekend to serve Mr. Ockomon with a subpoena to take his deposition so that this matter could proceed with all due haste.

Source: City of Anderson Press Release

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