A ruling in the City of Norman’s lawsuit against Ward 3 Councilmember Kelly Lynn for allegedly holding dual office illegally can be expected in about a week, following a hearing at the McClain County Courthouse Wednesday morning.
Lynn was accused by the City of Norman of holding dual office after his acceptance of a municipal judgeship in Wewoka. On Feb. 14, the city filed a request for declaratory judgment to determine whether Lynn vacated his city council seat upon accepting the office.
The same day the declaratory judgment request was filed, Lynn lost his bid for a second term to Bree Montoya. Since, Lynn has accepted a second judgeship in Dibble.
Both Lynn’s legal team’s motion to dismiss and the city’s motion for a summary judgment were heard in court by District Judge Leah Edwards Wednesday.
A summary judgment is when a court summarily disposes of a case prior to a trial, and rulings can only be made if the judge finds there is no factual dispute or need for trial.
Both parties agreed during the hearing that there is not a dispute among facts, but rather a dispute in how the facts are interpreted.
Tracy Schumacher, Lynn’s legal representation, said the court should examine the hierarchy in legal structure. According to Schumacher, the state constitution trumps all other law. After that, the court should then rely on Supreme Court rulings, state statutes and attorney general opinions in that order, she said.
Schumacher referred to the Oklahoma Constitution, article 7, section 11(b), arguing it provides an exemption for municipal judges and holding another office. The article states that no justices or judges, except municipal courts, can engage in another practice of law or hold another office.
The city’s legal team, including John Dorman of Spencer Fane LLC, pointed to 51 O.S. 6, which says that no person can hold two offices “except as may be otherwise provided.” The city also referred to the 1946 Supreme Court case Gibson v. Crowder that ruled upon the acceptance of a second office, the individual vacates the first.
Dorman also argued five attorney general opinions that say no municipal officer can hold another municipal office.
Schumacher argued the 2007 case of Town of Wellston v. Wallace found that one person could hold two offices, even with the opportunity to conflict. She said this ruling applies to Lynn, as his role as council and municipal judge in two different towns will have no conflict.
However, Dorman argued that this ruling wasn’t applicable to Lynn, as it applied to dual offices within the same city, and Lynn holds two offices in different cities.
Edwards said she would take the case and its arguments under advisement and promised a decision to come quickly, estimating about a week.
This story was edited by Alexia Aston and Karoline Leonard. Francisco Gutierrez and Teegan Smith copy edited this story.
