Court upholds Powell’s candidacy for PSC seat

The Georgia Supreme Court on Thursday upheld Jim Powell’s right to run for a seat on the Public Service Commission.

In a unanimous decision, the court struck down a challenge to Powell’s candidacy by Secretary of State Karen Handel. Handel had said Powell was ineligible to run for the District 4 seat because he did not meet residency requirements.

But Handel “committed an error of law” when interpreting the residency rules, said the court’s ruling, written by Justice Robert Benham.

Powell, a former Department of Energy employee, is running as a Democrat against Republican Lauren McDonald and Libertarian Brandon Givens.

“It’s nice to have that out of the way,” Powell said Thursday.

Powell, campaigning on a bus tour with Democratic Senate candidate Jim Martin, said he has been too busy to think much about whether he would be on the ballot.

Handel, a Republican, expressed disappointment. The ruling, she said, “paves the way for an avalanche of residency claims during future candidate qualifying periods and may even affect residency determinations in other areas, such as voter registration.”

This marked the third time in a decade that a PSC candidate’s residency was challenged and then upheld by the state Supreme Court. Commissioner Stan Wise on Thursday called for a repeal of the residency requirement for PSC members.

In 2006, Powell bought a home in Towns County, which is in District 4. But Handel said Powell kept his homestead exemption on a Cobb County house outside District 4.

The state Supreme Court noted that Powell spends 60 percent of his time at the Hiawassee home and that Powell attends church, pays taxes, has registered his cars and has voted three times in Towns County.

Powell satisfied at least seven of the 15 rules deciding residency qualifications, the court said. “The secretary’s decision did not take into account any of the applicable rules other than the homestead exemption rule.”

Staff writer Margaret Newkirk contributed to this article.