The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Judge calls challenge of appeals court candidate to be premature
Jeff Davis can continue campaign for a seat on bench.
An attorney’s challenge of Georgia Court of Appeals candidate Jeff Davis’ eligibility to run for office is premature, a judge has determined.
Davis, one of two candidates vying to replace retiring judge Yvette Miller, was accused by Augusta lawyer Randolph Frails of being a Tennessee resident. Davis says he has maintained a “legal residence” in Georgia for the past 36 years while spending a significant amount of time with his sister and his wife in their Chattanooga homes.
Judge Stephanie Howells of the Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings ruled Monday that Davis must be a Georgia resident at the time of the May 21 election in order to qualify for the bench. She cited the Georgia Constitution, which states that “all judges shall reside in the geographical area in which they are selected to serve.”
“The issue of (Davis’) residency is not ripe,” Howells said. “For candidates whose residency qualification is determined as of the date of the election, the winning candidate’s eligibility for the office may be challenged within five days of the votes being certified.”
Frails has vowed to continue his challenge of Davis’ eligibility and said he will immediately appeal the judge’s decision.
“Our courts will be tarnished and suffer a degradation in public confidence if Mr. Davis is successful in his pursuit to be elected to the Georgia Court of Appeals,” Frails said.
When qualifying as a candidate in early March, Davis swore that he lived at an apartment in Atlanta and had been a Fulton County resident for a year. Davis’ assertion that he resided in the two-bedroom apartment
with his two adult sons was preposterous, Frails said.
On that point, the judge seemed to agree. She noted that Davis “did not have a key to the apartment, a mailbox key, or a device to access the building,” though his name was on the lease. Howells said a candidate commits the offense of false swearing if they knowingly make a false statement on their candidacy documents.
“(Davis) failed to prove that he actually resided at the ... apartment with an intention to remain permanently or indefinitely,” Howells said. “To conclude otherwise strains credulity.”
Davis’ attorney, Bryan Tyson, said the judge’s ruling ultimately confirms that Davis is qualified to be on the ballot. He said Davis “will spend the next two weeks taking his case directly to the voters.”
“(Davis) has lived in Georgia for 36 years, raised his family in Georgia, and practices law in Georgia,” Tyson said. “Any suggestions to the contrary are unsupported by any evidence and motivated by politics.”
In early April, Davis bought a home in Rossville, just south of the Tennessee border. He said during an April 30 hearing that he planned to live there while his wife, Mary Beth Conklin, continued to live in Chattanooga, where one of her sons attends high school.
Frails alleged that Davis has lived outside Georgia for several years.
Davis claimed that his legal residence in 2022 was a rented home in Atlanta, where his two adult sons and their roommate lived. Howells noted that Davis did not have a bedroom or a bed at the house and did not keep his clothes or park his car there. Davis said he stayed with a girlfriend at her nearby home.
In the summer of 2022, Davis moved in with his sister in Chattanooga to help her recover from her husband’s tragic death. He bought a home in Flintstone, close to Tennessee, in October 2022 and claimed that became his legal residence. Davis consistently rented out the property until he sold it in August 2023.
Davis said the apartment in Atlanta was his legal residence from the time he sold his Flintstone home to when he purchased the Rossville property. He said he spent a significant part of 2022 and 2023 in Chattanooga with his sister and his wife, but never intended to live there.
That he prefers to buy his groceries at a Publix in Chattanooga, is a member of the Chattanooga Golf and Country Club, and until recently had a Chattanooga gym membership doesn’t make him a Tennessee resident, Davis said.
Frails said Davis’ “false swearing” as a candidate and irregularities in voter registration with regard to residence “should demand investigations by the proper governmental authorities.”