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Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Ind. Law - More on convicted felons on ballot in Lake County

This ILB entry from Jan. 26, 2007 includes this quote from a NWI Times story: "Town Councilman David Uzelac said he intends to fight for his right to run for another term despite a state legal opinion saying otherwise."

This March 3, 2007 ILB entry includes this quote from the Gary Post-Tribune:

A day after Merrillville council candidate Tom Goralczyk claimed David Uzelac was ineligible to run for office because of his criminal record, a similar situation may have arisen in Hobart.

John Curley, Lake County GOP chairman, was notified late Thursday night by a colleague that Mark A. Kopil, a candidate for Republican Tom Ehrhardt's seat on the Hobart City Council, pleaded guilty in 2002 to a misdemeanor charge of theft for stealing a $500 portable radio from the Merrillville Environmental Management Association when he was a volunteer for the organization.

The charge had been reduced from a felony, and Kopil served a year suspended.

But according to a state law passed in 2005, any person convicted of a felony reduced to a misdemeanor can't run for office. * * *

Kopil said he is trying to get his record expunged, claiming the charges were politically motivated. If he has no luck there, he plans to file an appeal.

Today Andy Grimm of the Post-Tribuune reports on yet a third prospective candidate for election in Lake County. Some quotes:
A decades-old criminal conviction will keep incumbent East Chicago City Councilman Jesse Gomez from running to keep his seat in the Democratic Primary after all, Lake County Superior Court Judge Lorenzo Arredondo ruled Tuesday.

Arredondo overturned a March 17 decision by the Lake County Election Board and ordered county election officials to remove Gomez's name from the May 8 ballot.

East Chicago city employee Angel Acosta appealed the Election Board decision to Arredondo's court, stating that a state law that took effect in 2005 made Gomez ineligible because he pleaded guilty to a felony drug offense in 1983, but had the charges against him reduced after serving probation.

Board members voted to keep Merrillville Town Councilman David Uzelac on the ballot despite a challenge based on his 1986 guilty plea to felony theft charges that later were reduced to a misdemeanor count. * * *

The Post-Tribune could not reach Tom Goralcyzk, who filed the eligibility complaint against Uzelac. Goralcyzk has two weeks remaining to appeal the ruling on his challenge.

Uzelac has said the felony eligibility law was designed with his criminal record in mind, and his longtime rival, Merrillville state Rep. Chet Dobis, was among the bill's supporters. Dobis since received an opinion from Attorney General Steve Carter supporting the law's constitutionality.

State law had barred convicted felons from holding elected office, but in 2005, the criteria broadened to exclude candidates who had pleaded guilty to felonies, but made deals with prosecutors to have the charges reduced after completing probation. The practice was and is fairly commonplace, and applying the new law to candidates who made such deals before 2005 likely won't hold up to constitutional scrutiny, said election board attorney David Saks.

"But I don't know what (Gomez) can do before May 8," Saks said.

Bill Dolan of the Times also has a story on Gomez today. Some quotes:
CROWN POINT | Lake County election officials removed East Chicago City Councilman Jesse Gomez's name from the May 8 ballot.

Lake Circuit Court Judge Lorenzo Arredondo ordered Gomez off the ballot Tuesday in response to a lawsuit filed last week by Angel Acosta, an East Chicago resident who alleged Gomez was unqualified to run because of his criminal background.

"The law doesn't allow candidates who pleaded guilty to felonies to seek or retain public office," said Jewel Harris Jr., a Gary lawyer representing Acosta. * * *

Gomez was elected to the City Council when state law permitted elected officials to serve if they had felony convictions that had been reduced later to lesser crimes. The Indiana Legislature amended the law months later to close that loophole.

Acosta challenged Gomez's candidacy earlier this month before the Lake County elections board, which refused by a 3-2 vote March 13 to remove Gomez on legal advice that the new law unconstitutionally punished Gomez.

Tuesday's ruling overturned the elections board vote.

Here is a link to Official Opinion 2006-4 of the Attorney General, with a Jan. 25, 2007 cover letter.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 28, 2007 07:24 AM
Posted to Indiana Law