Louisiana Supreme Court Takes On Perkins Mayoral Disqualification
The Louisiana Supreme Court has agreed to take on the reelection disqualification case centered around Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins.
KEEL News has confirmed that the oral arguments in the case will begin on August 16th at 2pm. The hearing will be via teleconference, with just the lawyers for each side. Both sides will be given 20 minutes to state their cases. Because it is an online teleconference hearing, outsiders should be able to watch the stream.
A Caddo District Court Judge ruled earlier this month that an issue with paperwork disqualifies Shreveport's Mayor from seeking reelection. That decision was appealed to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, who last week upheld the decision.
The issue surrounds Perkins' residency listed on his election paperwork. The forms filed on July 22nd say Perkins lives in south Shreveport, and stated he was registered to vote there. However, Perkins has bought a condo in downtown Shreveport, and claimed a Homestead Tax Exemption on that condo. Louisiana election laws say that if you claim a Homestead Tax Exemption on a residence, that's the property you have to list on your election and voting paperwork.
Perkins reportedly changed his voting address on July 30th, a week after he filed his reelection paperwork.
Louisiana law further states that if you submit false or inaccurate information on your Notice of Candidacy paperwork, you are disqualified from the election the paperwork was filed for. Meaning the inaccurate information submitted by Perkins would disqualify him from the race for Mayor he filed for on July 22nd.
Perkins announced the appeal of the original ruling right away, and has continued to pursue appeals, which is now going to be heard by the highest court in the state.