Magistrate candidate to face court test

A second local political candidate is facing a legal challenge that could derail his effort to win Whitley County’s Fourth District Magisterial race.
Last Thursday, a lawsuit was filed in Whitley County Circuit Court against T.O. Elliott, Jr. challenging his qualifications for office. The suit, filed by Corbin attorney David O. Smith on behalf of Whitley County resident Paul Cummins, claims Elliott lied on campaign forms regarding his residency when he filed to run for office.
“Although the Defendant listed 202 Elliott Road, Rockholds, KY 40759 as his residential address on his Notification and Declaration, which address is in the Fourth District of Whitley County, Kentucky, the Defendant does not reside at that address and is not a resident of the Fourth Magisterial District,” Smith writes in the civil complaint.
Cummins contends Elliott actually lives at 4626 Meadow Creek Road, about a mile outside the Fourth District.
Kentucky law requires that candidates for Magistrate must reside in the district for which they are seeking election.
Attached to the lawsuit is a photocopy of a page from the local BellSouth telephone directory showing Elliott’s address as 4626 Meadow Creek Road along with his phone number. No number is listed for 202 Elliott Road.
“People all over the county were saying he was out of his district,” Cummins said. “I looked into it and it appears that he’s about a mile and a half outside the Fourth District. I filed the lawsuit because if we want better government, we’ve got to go in straight and not mislead people.”
Smith said he’s received about 30 calls from residents in the Fourth Magisterial District complaining about Elliott’s candidacy.
“I have several witnesses that will be testifying,” Smith said. “Mr. Cummins is interested in seeing that the election is run fairly.”
Cummins lives on Bee Creek Road, in the Fourth District.
Also included is a sworn affidavit by Randall Carter, a resident who lives at 228 Perkins Street in Woodbine. Carter claims he personally knows Elliott and that he is not living where he claims on his campaign forms.
“I have personally talked to T.O. Elliot a/k/a T.O. Elliott, Jr. in the yard of the aforesaid house at 4626 Meadow Creek Road, Rockholds, Kentucky,” the affidavit says. “He does not live or reside in the Fourth Magisterial District of Whitley County, Kentucky.”
Numerous calls to Elliott seeking comment Tuesday were unanswered.
Cummins contends the trailer Elliott claims he lives in is vacant. He said Elliott might have filed to run for Magistrate in the Fourth District, instead of the First, for political advantage.
“This is speculation, but I think he’s got a lot more relation and things living around Woodbine and that would give him a better shot at it.”
Elliott is the second local political candidate in the last week to have his qualifications questioned. Corbin Mayoral candidate Randy Smith will also have to answer residency questions in court if he is to run in May’s primary. That lawsuit claims Smith lives in Laurel County.