Court Ruling Ousts Jere Wood From Office; Mayor To Appeal Decision (UPDATED)

ROSWELL, GA -- A Fulton County Superior Court judge has removed Roswell Mayor Jere Wood from the post he's held for two decades, but the long-time leader of the city is not going down without a fight. A ruling issued by Judge Craig Schwall on Thursday, Aug. 3 "immediately" removes Wood from the office of mayor, vacating the position that's up for re-election in the Nov. 7 municipal elections.

The writ of ouster granted to petitioner and mayoral candidate Michael Litten also orders Wood to hand over any books or papers belonging to the office to the city attorney within 10 days of the ruling. However, there is one caveat to the ruling: the judge notes his decision would be stayed pending the outcome if Wood decides to appeal the ruling. On Thursday, Wood said he will, in fact, appeal the court's ruling.

"However, I will not be seeking reelection this coming November," he said in a statement issued through city spokesperson Julie Brechbill. "I will continue to serve the city until my current term comes to an end or the appellate court rules on Judge Schwall’s decision.”

Litten in 2016 filed the lawsuit, alleging Wood violated the city's charter when he ran for -- and won -- a fifth, four-year term in 2013. Litten argued that the city amended Chapter 3, Section 50 of its charter in 2010 disqualifying anyone who has served three or more four-year terms to run for the office. The section states “no person who has been elected to three or more four-year terms of office as mayor shall be eligible for election to the office of mayor.”

"I think it is poetic justice (that) the man who ran on term limits in 1997 was hoisted on his own petard," Litten said.

John Monroe, an attorney who representing Litten, said added they are pleased "that the court followed the will of the legislature and applied the term limits the way the legislature worded them."

The charter amendment imposing term limits was done through local legislation approved by the Georgia General Assembly.

In his ruling Schwall notes the sole issue before the court was to determine if Wood was qualified to hold office during the 2013 election. Schwall states the text of the charter's language is clear, and that any reasonable reader would "conclude that the ineligibility limit applies to an individual who has served three or more terms."

"The text does not make any qualification or exception for when the terms were served, whether they were served consecutively, or were designed only to apply prospectively," he writes.

In his defense, Wood noted the legislature didn't intend for the charter amendment to "limit him in his service as mayor of Roswell," that the term limits should have been considered prospectively, that the changes to the charter did not receive preclearance by the U.S. Justice Department as required by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and that imposing term limits was unconstitutional because they targeted him.

The judge noted it's impossible for the court to determine the intent of each legislator who supported a particular bill aside from what's noted in the text that's eventually adopted.

"That is why Georgia courts consistently rely on the text of a statute instead of trying to divine a legislative purpose," Schwall writes, noting the state legislature expressed its will in the language it approves. Also, the legislature had multiple chances to amend the law, but refused to do so, the judge notes.

He also shot down Wood's position that term limits should only apply prospectively, as anything applied retroactively could be ruled as unconstitutional. However, the judge writes that laws of that nature are considered unconstitutional if they "create a new obligation on transactions or considerations already past." The term limits application does not create any "new obligations on past transactions," but it merely looks at antecedent facts -- whether, in this case, Wood had already served prior four-year terms in office -- to determine the qualifications for future service.

Furthermore, on the question of federal preclearance, the judge notes this contention "holds no merit" because the charter provisions are enforceable without preclearance.

Finally, Schwall writes Wood's defense that term limits were imposed as a way to target his service is inaccurate. Local legislation that meets the criteria of being ruled as unconstitutional bills of attainder (laws that convict someone of a penalty without going through the judicial process) must meet three criteria: they have to apply to a group of "easily identifiable people," the bills punish those easily identifiable individuals and imposes punishment without a judicial trial. The term limits imposition, which Scwhall points out was also supported by Wood, does not impose any punishment on the mayor.

"It simply made him ineligible to qualify and run for subsequent terms," he added, noting that it appears the legislature passed term limits because the action was requested by the city, not because they wanted to remove the mayor from office.

Wood was first elected to the office of mayor in 1997 when he ousted long-time public servant Pug Mabry. He was later re-elected to a second term in 2001, a third term in 2005, a fourth term in 2009 and a fifth term in 2013.

Image via city of Roswell