Judge rules against Frank Austin candidacy

A state judge ruled Wednesday that candidate Frank Austin has not lived in state House District 142 long enough to run for that seat.

Austin’s address is on Bethesda Avenue in Macon, but he was only able to convince a state administrative law judge that he has lived there since March 11, 2016. To run for office, he needed to prove his Bethesda Avenue home has been his legal residence since Nov. 8, 2015 -- a year before the general election.

Austin said he plans to appeal the decision.

According to the court’s ruling, Austin showed records including tax returns to demonstrate his residency at the address. But the judge wasn’t convinced.

“The Bethesda Avenue home was without water service for more than eleven months out of the past year,” administrative law judge Kristin Miller wrote in the April 20 ruling.

Miller also said Austin did not update the address on his driver’s license or his voter registration to Bethesda Avenue until this year.

One of the other state House candidates, Gerald Harvey, made the complaint about Austin’s residency last month.

Harvey said Wednesday afternoon that he had not yet read the judge’s ruling and would not comment.

Austin’s disqualification would leave just two candidates in the May 24 Democratic primary: Harvey and Miriam Paris. Both are former Macon City Council members. The winner of the primary will join the state House, because there is no Republican in the race.

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 4:48 PM with the headline "Judge rules against Frank Austin candidacy."