More than two years after they were approved by the Georgia legislature, Cobb Board of Commissioner districts are finally being reflected on county government websites and in other official documentation.
That’s because commissioners on Tuesday voted to adopt the maps after losing an appeal over the “home rule” maps commission Democrats adopted in 2022 but that were ruled unconstitutional by a Cobb judge last month.
For voters in East Cobb, however, a lengthy saga of chaos and confusion is only partially over.
While almost all of East Cobb is in District 3—represented by Republican commissioner JoAnn Birrell—District 2 Commissioner Jerica Richardson, whose “home rule” district included some of East Cobb where she lives—is declaring herself a “de facto” commissioner.
Her colleagues declined on Tuesday to give notice of a vacancy in the new District 2, where she is not a legal resident. The legislative maps drew her out, prompting her and her two Democratic commissioners to attempt to use home rule authority to assert reapportionment powers the Georgia Constitution has delegated only to the legislature.
If that vacancy is declared, she would have the right to challenge her removal in court. But during the discussion, Birrell said she thought Richardson should serve out the rest of her term.
The vote was tied at 2-2 (Richardson had to recuse herself), and commissioners didn’t indicate if they would take up the matter again.
Her term expires on Dec. 31. Richardson, who did not seek re-election amid the home rule controversy, said on a “community huddle” call with constituents Thursday that as far as she’s concerned, “the seat is vacant, but I don’t know that it is,” a reference to having no formal notice of a vacancy.
She said she’s not sure at the moment what powers, if any, she may still have, especially about sitting in official meetings and taking votes.
“I still want to know if there is some authority under which I’m operating,” Richardson said on the call, adding that it’s a “deep, deep Constitutional crisis.”
Cobb commissioners don’t have another official meeting until Sept. 10.
But the question of whether some of her appointees may not be able to continue to serve—also due to district residency requirements—is uncertain as well.
Among them is David Anderson, Richardson’s appointee to the Cobb Planning Commission, which meets next Tuesday.
He’s a resident of what is now being recognized by the county as District 3, living in the area around Murdock Elementary School.
Planning Commission members serve concurrent terms as the commissioners who appoint them, so Anderson’s term also expires at the end of the year.
East Cobb News has inquired with the county about whether Anderson and other Richardson appointees may be affected by the new maps but has not received a response.
As for East Cobb voters who had been in District 2 under the “home rule” maps: While they got to vote in that race in the May primaries, they won’t be eligible to cast votes in the special elections that were ordered for early next year by Cobb Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill.
She vacated the primary results in Districts 2 and 4 because the Cobb elections board also used the “home rule” maps.
The official District 2 runs along I-75 and includes most of the Smyrna/Cumberland area, pushing as east as the western side of Powers Ferry Road.
Here are the precincts in East Cobb that went from District 2 under the “home rule” maps to District 3 under the state maps commissioners adopted this week:
- Chestnut Ridge 01
- Dickerson 01
- Dodgen 01
- Eastside 01
- Eastside 02
- Fullers Park 01
- Hightower 01
- Murdock 01
- Mt. Bethel 01
- Mt. Bethel 03
- Mt. Bethel 04
- Powers Ferry 01
- Roswell 01
- Roswell 02
- Sewell Mill 01
- Sewell Mill 03
- Sope Creek 01
- Sope Creek 02
- Sope Creek 03
- Terrell Mill 01
- Timber Ridge 01
Birrell and Keli Gambrill, the other Republican commissioner from District 1 in North and West Cobb, were re-elected in 2022 using the state maps.
Their current terms expire in 2026.
Cobb government has provided a link for citizens to check their commission district, by typing in your street address.
Related:
- Six presidential candidates to appear on Georgia ballot
- Cobb adopts state electoral maps; Richardson in limbo
- Cobb commissioners feud over resolving electoral map dispute
- Cobb may consider vacating District 2 commission seat
- Cobb judge upholds decision to call special elections
- Absentee ballot request period for Cobb, Ga. underway
- MORE: Visit the East Cobb News Politics & Elections Page
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Georgia Code Title 16. Crimes and Offenses § 16-10-1
Current as of March 28, 2024 | Updated by FindLaw Staff
Any public officer who willfully and intentionally violates the terms of his oath as prescribed by law shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years.
What an absolute unmitigated mess. Any fool knows that the Board of Commissioners of any county in Georgia doesn’t get to set their own boundaries. It would be stupid if they could because they’d always draw the lines to keep themselves in power. Rather, the state legislature is assigned this authority and while members of the Georgia House may attempt to tweak the maps for partisan benefit that’s how it’s always been done statewide and though not perfect it’s clearly a preferential system. It’s much less likely to be a corrupt process with 180 members of the Georgia legislature, none with a personal stake, determining Cobb’s commission boundaries than if the current Chairman and her fellow commissioners, all of whom have a personal stake, get to draw the lines.
The fact that the Chairman couldn’t understand that and asserted an authority she clearly did not have causes one to question whether she possesses the judgement to lead the County. The Chairman wasted Bill Rowling’s time and put him in the very untenable position of having to defend this escapade and, as I understand it, she herself is an attorney. She should’ve known better. To make matters worse she threw her fellow commissioners off the dias when they rightly decried her scheme as unconstitutional.
Further, I believe the District 2 commissioner moved while the Georgia legislature was in the process of updating the boundaries following the 2020 census, and she moved to a property at the edge of her district. She too should have known better. It was highly likely that boundary line would change.
The result of all this is now chaos for Cobb County, formerly a bastion of good government. Now nobody knows if anything is legitimate, if actions taken by the Board are legally binding, or if appointments made to other boards are valid. It would be hard to create a bigger mess.
It may take the staff at Cobb County a long time to untangle this but the voters can help them by getting rid of all those responsible come November.
Agreed Sean. This really has the appearance of Violation of Oath of Office for three of our commissioners.
And as a serious constitutional question, does this mean that every decision that the Commission has passed in which Richardson was the deciding vote now nullified? That is, were our tax increases legally passed? If not, are the citizens of Cobb County legally obligated to pay the tax increase? Does this need to be addressed before October 15th when our property taxes are due?
Jim I am not a lawyer but I believe that during the appeal process it was legal for Richardson to stay in her seat. It would take a really good lawyer to unravel the damage that was done in that time frame.
If Cobb County had agreed to keep moving forward by allowing Richardson to remain until the end of her term we could move on today. Two years later since the first vote for Home rule we still have questions.
Thx Donald.
I was just re-watching the meeting and reading the Cobb County Code which they were referring to as local Enabling legislation. According to that legislation, Richardson’s seat was legally “vacant” the moment she no longer lived in District 2.
2-23 “A person elected or appointed as a member of the board from a commissioner district must continue to reside in that district during that person’s term of office or that office shall become vacant. ” Does this mean immediately? If so, Richardson was illegitimately sitting in a vacated seat. I understand what you are saying about the appeal process, but they lost and were therefore not operating legally during the appeal process. It seems to me that this makes all decisions the board made illegal when Richardson was the deciding vote, including the SPLOST ballot vote and the tax increases.
Judge Hill ordered that the primary elections must be held again because they were not legitimate. This was also during the appeal, but was not allowed. This set the precedent that even though it was during the appeal, it was not legal and the elections must be held again. Logically, it follows that all 3-2 decisions made by the Board in which Richardson was the deciding vote illegal and likewise required to be re-voted as though the seat was vacant.
I am wondering if Cobb Legal and the Chairwoman are hoping no citizens raise this question as this could blow up in their faces in a very big way if correct.
Maybe Lisa Cupid was playing with more fire than she realized.
You are right about the minute they accepted the maps approved by the General Assembly. Jerica states in the article that she is the defacto commissioner of District 2. I understand that to mean that she has 10 days to file an appeal but she still serves as a Commissioner for now. I strongly suggest that the BOC hold a special meeting and maybe they will be able to vote to let her finish her term. As of right now she’s no longer qualified unless it’s defacto. This is a legal nightmare and the GA Constitution is priceless.
Yes Donald, it is a legal nightmare that would have been avoided if we had competent Commission and County Attorney leadership.
Commissioner Birrell seemed well intentioned with her vote but it seemed that in her mind, Richardson’s term would be ending on December 31st. What about on January 1st and until the special election is held? Will Richardson do the right thing and resign on Dec. 31st? Don’t count on that. Why was this not addressed? Did I miss something?
This article reflects a lack of thorough research and merely parrot propaganda. A skilled reporter would have pointed out that appointments remain in place until new ones are made. The county attempted to return to court to continue litigating and obtaining a favorable outcome. The recent actions of the three individuals were clearly intended to create a legal conflict and an injured party, allowing the county and the injured party to resume litigating at the expense of the citizens. They succeeded in setting up a conflict in laws but failed to create an injured party due to a 2-2 vote. Their disregard for the law for over two years, is the cause to continue breaking the law for an additional four months in order to avoid court. Barth is falling into their trap, and the reporter fails to capture the real essence of the story. This article highlights why the East Cobb News lacks value and credibility, serving as little more than a promotional platform for the lawbreakers and their agenda.
The saga does continue and there is no end in sight. For those that are aware of the facts there are still questions as to how Jerica Richardson can still hold the seat. Attorney Bill Rowling seemed to be very specific about Richardson was not qualified to remain in the District 2 seat . If I remember the words it was more about she no longer lives in the District and is not legally able to retain the seat.
People should remember that this has never been about removing her from the seat for personal reasons but it was always a question of Constitution law. The County interference began with the Home rule trickery and there were multiple lawsuits. As long as the lawsuits were pending the appeal process kept Richardson legally in the seat. All of the legal wrangling is over and currently the law is clear to me that Richardson should step away voluntarily to limit any more lawfare.
Cupid voted correctly to cover her butt along with Gambrill. Birrell seemed to be very tired of the fighting and voted knowing it’s against the constitution. Read the carefully worded article and reply from Richardson and it looks like here we go again. People need to realize that you cannot change the written laws by throwing the towel in. Laws are there for a baseline and they can be revised but until that process is reversed the law is clear.
Yes, “a deep deep Constitutional crisis” caused by Lisa Cupid, Richardson, and Sheffield.
Richardson did not have to recuse herself, she chose to as a ploy to deadlock the vote so she could stay in office.
She said there was a conflict of interest – funny that she did not see a conflict of interest on the original vote.
These three incompetent preening peacocks must go.
Are they required to disclose the total cost to taxpayers under the open records act?
Remember in November!
Well said Bart! It’s so infuriating 😡. Thank you for giving us a voice! 🙏
Dad, do you wake up angry like this every day?
This is hardly a “deep deep constitutional” crisis; it’s a Cobb county issue. You want a deep deep constitutional crisis? How about your continued support of a racist, misogynistic narcissist for president who shows a lack of respect for women, veterans, and pretty much anyone who goes up against him (including your very Republican Georgia governor)? The same person who is unlikely to support the results come November when he loses the election but turns to his sycophants to cry foul.
So you can’t defend this democrat majority either.
The old Marxist “change the subject” tactic. Nice try comrade.
Never heard you complain once Dad, when Republican Tim Lee & friends were negotiating behind the scenes on the Battery for the Braves. Don’t you have a rock to crawl back under? You’re the one who continues to soil the Turner family name.