Residency requirements
Is one year enough time for mayoral candidates to live in Memphis?
The Memphis City Council took its first step Tuesday toward putting a referendum before the city's voters that, if approved by both council and voters, would require candidates for Memphis mayor to have lived within city limits for at least one year preceding the election.
The proposal comes during a time of heated debate about what, exactly, the residency requirements are for mayoral candidates, a question that could impact up to three declared candidates.
If approved, the change would not apply to this year's mayoral election.
Voters would be asked whether the city charter should be amended so candidates for the city mayor and city council must “be a bona fide resident of the City of Memphis for at least one (1) year preceding the date of the municipal election.”
Tuesday, when council members passed the ordinance on its first reading, there also were discussions about stripping any age requirement — currently set at 30 years old — from the charter.
The ordinance needs to go through three rounds of approval by the Memphis City Council, and is likely to face changes before its final reading. If ultimately approved on the third reading, it would be presented to voters at an election during 2024.
“It would do the people of Memphis justice, serve the folks … well if we clear up any ambiguity in the residency requirements,” said Councilman JB Smiley Jr., a cosponsor of the ordinance.
Barring any resignations after approval by the voters, the new residency requirement would not go into effect until the mayoral race in 2027.
“The City's Home Rule Charter does not presently provide qualifications for the Mayor that are separate and independent from the qualifications for Council Members,” reads the ordinance.
Two candidates for mayor have sued the Shelby County Election Commission after an attorney for the city issued an opinion saying mayoral candidates must meet a five-year residency requirement once required of council members.
Attorneys for Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner and Memphis NAACP President Van Turner have argued that a vote in 1996 overruled that portion of the charter not only for council members, but also for mayoral candidates.
Bonner moved from Bartlett into the city this year, purchasing an East Memphis home in January. Turner has also not lived in Memphis for five years.
And, there have been questions about whether former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton has lived in Collierville at some point in the past five years, although the five-year residency requirement was not followed in 2019 when Herenton last ran for office.
Allan Wade, a private attorney who has represented both the election commission and the Memphis City Council, said Tuesday that the new ordinance would separate requirements for mayor and council members.
“You can have durational residency as long as it serves a legitimate governmental interest,” Wade said.
Katherine Burgess covers government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.