A trial date has been set for litigation to determine whether or not a newly re-elected Bartholomew County councilman lives in the county he represents.
Special Judge Mary Wertz of Brown County has scheduled 8:30 a.m. Dec. 23 as the start of a bench trial that will determine whether Bartholomew County Council president Matt Miller’s legal residence is in the Highland Ridge subdivision south of Petersville — or at a different residence outside of the county.
A dozen Highland Ridge residents signed a petition in July claiming that Miller actually lives on property he owns in a rural area of Jennings County.
In another new development, all members of the Bartholomew County Election Board — Jay Phelps, James Holland and Julie Schuette — have been removed from the litigation because they are no longer a necessary party in the dispute, court records state.
That’s according to Ross Thomas, an Indianapolis lawyer representing Bartholomew County Democratic Party chairman Steve Schoettmer, as well as three Democratic candidates who had unsuccessful campaigns for the at-large county council seats.
Claudette Schroer, Olisa Humes and Tiffany Bosley all lost during the election in what became a Republican sweep of county offices on Tuesday.
The local election board was initially named in the lawsuit in an effort to persuade the panel to investigate the neighbor’s petition, Thomas said. The neighborhood residents who signed the petition believe the rental home at 1331 N. County Road 500E that Miller has listed as his legal residence has actually been vacant for years.
But instead of investigating, the election board and their attorney, Peter King of Columbus, “moved as slowly as they possibly could,” so their responses and statements were filed within 30 days of the election, Thomas said.
“At that point, the ballots had gone out, and some were being returned,” Thomas said. “Based on the merits, I think we would have won. But it was our determination that this course of action was not good for anybody.”
Phelps — who oversees all Bartholomew County elections as county clerk — offered a different perspective.
He said a Democratic co-director at the Indiana Election Division determined that the Sept. 9 formal complaint was filed too late for an election board investigation. Instead, the state election official said all decisions that late in a campaign had to be made by a judge, Phelps said.
Currently, the petition seeks to remove Miller from his current term that ends on Dec. 31, according to the councilman’s attorney, George “Jay” Hoffman II of Franklin.
But since a ruling from Wertz is not likely before the council completes this year’s business and will probably be appealed, Hoffman said he believes the case is essentially moot at this time.
If Schoettmer and the three Democratic candidates wish to continue their litigation, Hoffman said he believes they will have to amend and request that Miller never takes his seat for his next term that begins in January.
Instead of a petition signed by neighbors, the plaintiffs will need a sworn affidavit supporting the allegations against Miller, Hoffman said. It’s likely that only Schoettmer, as head of the county’s Democratic Party, has the legal standing to file such an affidavit, the councilman’s attorney said.
As to the central issue of the case, Hoffman said his client’s position is pretty simple.
“Mr. Miller has been a resident of Bartholomew County his entire life, even when he was at Purdue University for four years,” Hoffman said. “He runs a Columbus business, as well as operates all types of residential and commercial properties in Bartholomew County. The house (in Highland Ridge), which he puts down as his legal residence, is also where he sleeps and brushes his teeth.”
During an interview last summer, Miller said he and his wife do occasionally spend weekends at their Jennings County property as a get-away.
But Hoffman said the legal residency requirement for an elected county office holder deals more with where a person “intends” to reside, rather than other factors.
“We feel we have strong evidence to hold off any residency claim,” Hoffman said.
Wertz is hearing the case filed in Bartholomew Superior Court 1 because Judge James Worton — an elected Republican — recused himself on Sept. 11 due to the political conflict of interest.
