Challenge dropped, Perry to stay in Corbin mayor race

A lawsuit against a Corbin Mayoral candidate has been dismissed.
Melvina Stephenson, a resident of 16th Street in Corbin, filed a civil complain in Whitley Circuit Court April 18 questioning the qualifications of Dr. Truman Perry, a specialized family medicine physician who is one of three men seeking the office.
The complaint, filed by Corbin attorney C. Wayne Shepherd, who is representing Stephenson, alleged that Perry did not meet legal requirements to seek the office of mayor because he did not live within the city limits.
Judge Jerry Winchester agreed to dismiss a lawsuit Monday morning against Perry after Shepherd filed a motion to have it dismissed.
“She simply decided she doesn’t want to pursue the matter,” Shepherd said. “She doesn’t contend anything now. She just said she wanted the matter dismissed, and that is the end of it.”
On official candidate filing forms, Perry listed his residential address as 121 Bishop Street in Corbin. Stephenson claimed in the complaint that he actually resided at 426 McNeil Corn Creek Road in the Rockholds community.
Kentucky law requires that a candidate for mayor reside in the city where he seeks office, and must have been a resident in the city for at least one year prior to his election.
The lawsuit asked that Perry’s name be removed from the primary election ballot.
Perry’s attorney, David O. Smith, joined in the motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
“I think he (Perry) knew that he would win the case if it went to a hearing,” Smith said. “He is just happy that when we provided the facts to the other side that they saw he was correct, and decided to dismiss it on their own. He does live in the city.”
Last month, Perry called allegations in the lawsuit “inaccurate” and said he lived in an apartment at 121 Bishop Street and has resided there since 2004. The address, referred to as Doctor’s Park, contains the business and medical offices for Dr. Michael Watts and Perry, among others, as well as a pharmacy. He added that he owns a doublewide trailer on a farm in Rockholds, but only stays there occasionally and when his children visit.