George v. Baker
George v. Baker
Opinion of the Court
Bobby George and three other members of the Cave Spring City Council sought to enjoin elections superintendent Shirley Baker from conducting a recall election because the recall petitions were filed within six months of previous recall petitions being found invalid.
In 1994 voters in Cave Spring initiated a recall effort against George and three other members of Cave Spring’s City Council. George filed an action in superior court to enjoin the recall effort. On December 8, 1994, the trial court found that the petitions failed to meet certain requirements of the Recall Act and that the elections superintendent failed to comply fully with her official duties.
1. The council members contend that this recall effort should be enjoined because OCGA § 21-4-14 (b) prevents the issuance of any further application for recall against the same officer until at least six months have elapsed from the date of the finding of insufficiency of the prior petition. This argument ignores the plain language of § 21-4-14 (b). That section provides that “[i]f the election superintendent finds that a recall petition is insufficient” no further application for a recall petition shall be filed for six months. Thus, a judicial determination that the recall petition was issued in violation of the Recall Act is not a bar to a subsequent petition.
2. Additionally, the elections superintendent may only undertake a narrowly defined review of the petitions.
For these reasons, the second petition was not subject to the time proscription in OCGA § 21-4-14 (b) and the trial court correctly de
Judgment affirmed.
OCGA § 21-4-1 et seq.
See Hunter v. George, 265 Ga. 573 (458 SE2d 830) (1995) (affirming that portion of the trial court’s order).
See Collins v. Morris, 263 Ga. 734, 737 (438 SE2d 896) (1994) (following a judicial determination that a prior application was legally insufficient under OCGA § 21-4-6 “there is no statutory provision proscribing the filing of an additional application” ) (emphasis supplied).
OCGA §§ 21-4-3 (7.1) and 21-4-11 (a).
See Hunter, 265 Ga. at 574-575.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- GEORGE v. BAKER
- Status
- Published