Oglesby v. Williams

• Decision Date: 18 December 2002
• Docket Number: No. 49,49
• Citation: 812 A.2d 1061,372 Md. 360
• Parties: Beau H. OGLESBY v. William G. WILLIAMS, III et al.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

812 A.2d 1061

372 Md. 360

Beau H. OGLESBY v. William G. WILLIAMS, III et al.

No. 49, Sept. Term, 2002.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Order September 5, 2002.

December 18, 2002.

Steven W. Rakow, Ocean Pines, for appellant.

Joseph E. Moore (Christopher T. Woodley of Williams, Moore, Shockley & Harrison, L.L.P., on brief), Ocean City, for appellees.

Andrew H. Baida, Sol. Gen. (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Atty. Gen. of MD, and Judith A. Armold, Asst. Atty. Gen., on amicus curiae brief), Baltimore, amicus curiae for State of MD, for appellees.

J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Atty. Gen. of MD, Andrew H. Baida, Sol. Gen and Judith A. Armold, Asst. Atty. Gen., Baltimore, for State of MD.

Argued before BELL, C.J., ELDRIDGE, RAKER, WILNER, HARRELL, BATTAGLIA and THEODORE G. BLOOM (Retired, specially assigned), JJ.

Per Curiam Order September 5, 2002.

BELL, Chief Judge.

The issue this case presents for resolution is whether the Circuit Court for Worcester County correctly concluded that the appellant, Beau H. Oglesby, failed to meet the eligibility requirements to run for State's Attorney for Worcester County in the November 2002 general election. After oral arguments before this Court, we issued an order affirming the judgment of the trial court. We now set forth the reasons for that order.

I.

On December 14, 2001, the appellant filed a certificate of candidacy with the Worcester County Board of Elections, thus indicating his intention to be a candidate for election to the office of State's Attorney for Worcester County. Shortly thereafter, in January of 2002, questions began to be raised by members of the media concerning whether the appellant met the constitutional eligibility requirements, see Article V, § 10, of the Constitution of Maryland,¹ i.e., whether he had "resided for at least two years, in the county, or city, in which he may be elected." One of the appellees,² William G. Williams, III, a registered voter and Chairman of the Worcester County Democratic State Central Committee, was aware of the issue as evidenced by his comments quoted in The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch, "[w]e're certainly keeping an eye on the situation, but we haven't formally requested an investigation into [Mr. Oglesby's] residency requirements."³ More than four months after making those remarks, the appellee filed in the Circuit Court for Worcester County a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment, challenging the appellant's eligibility to run for State's Attorney for Worcester County and seeking to have his certificate of candidacy declared void.

In response, the appellant filed a Motion to Dismiss the Complaint for Declaratory Judgment, arguing that the action was untimely. He maintained, citing Maryland Code (1957, 1997 Repl. Vol., 1998 Supp.) Article 33, § 12-202(b),⁴ that, because the appellee had knowledge of the predicate fact for his judicial challenge as early as January 25, 2002 when he was quoted on the subject in The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch, he had ten (10) days to file an action challenging the appellant's candidacy. Noting that the appellee did not file his action within that 10-day time period, the appellant concluded that the appellee's action was time-barred and, thus, could not challenge his candidacy. The trial court denied the appellant's Motion to Dismiss. Nevertheless, Mr. Williams filed an amended Complaint adding as an additional plaintiff, Frances Sturgis, the other appellee.

Following trial, the Circuit Court rejected the appellant's argument that this action was controlled by the Election Code, Article 33, §§ 12-201 et seq., thus, confirming its prior ruling that the declaratory judgment action was timely filed. The court also found that two days before being added as a party, Ms. Sturgis had no knowledge of the lawsuit or of the appellant's residency qualifications.

The court viewed the issue to be resolved solely as involving the question whether Mr. Oglesby met the constitutionally imposed residency requirements for the office of State's Attorney and, thus, qualified to run for that office. On that issue, the appellant admitted that he had been domiciled in Wicomico County for a period of time beginning in December 1995, until some point in 2000. He argued, however, that his purchase of real property in Worcester County, coupled with his intention to be domiciled there, effectively established his residency within the two-year period prescribed by Article V, Section 10 of the Maryland Constitution. In the alternative, he submitted that the constitutional provision at issue permitted him to tack prior periods of residency in Worcester County to his current residency to satisfy the two-year residency requirement. The Circuit Court rejected both arguments, holding that the "[c]onstitutional requirement for residency is a strict rubric [and] ... [w]hile the precise words are not within the constitutional provision, a candidate for the office of State's Attorney must live for two years immediately prior to the election within the county in which he or she runs."

Considering and weighing the factors for resolving questions of residency identified by this Court in Bainum v. Kalen, 272 Md. 490, 499, 325 A.2d 392, 397 (1974), the court then concluded that Mr. Oglesby failed affirmatively to demonstrate that he had changed his domicile to Worcester County prior to November 5, 2000, two years prior to the election in which the appellant intended to run as a candidate. The Circuit Court declared that Mr. Oglesby did not meet the constitutional eligibility requirements to run for the Office of State's Attorney and, consequently, ordered that Mr. Oglesby's name not be placed on the November 5, 2002 General Election Ballot for that office. The appellant noted an appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, and this Court issued, on its own initiative, a writ of certiorari prior to proceedings in that court. Oglesby v. Williams, 370 Md. 268, 805 A.2d 265, 2002 Md. Lexis 579 (2002).

II.

We set out the facts as gleaned from the trial court's opinion to guide our review of this case. The appellant graduated from the University of Baltimore Law School in 1994 and is currently licensed to practice law in the State of Maryland. From February 1995 until September 1995, he resided, under a six-month lease, at 24 ½ 48th Street in Ocean City, Maryland, where he received his mail. During this seven-month period, the appellant was working full-time, in Wicomico County, as a law clerk in the Wicomico County Circuit Court in Salisbury, Maryland. In addition, the appellant worked part-time in Worcester County, at a retail outlet in Ocean City, Maryland. He was not registered to vote in either Wicomico or Worcester County. Until December 12, 1995, the appellant was registered to vote in Prince George's County.

In September 1995, the appellant relocated to Wicomico County, where he practiced law. Within a few month of relocation, he registered to vote in Wicomico County. After four years of residing in Wicomico County, he and his wife, in the spring of 2000, decided to relocate in Worcester County. After appellant's wife changed her primary working area to Worcester County, the Oglesbys engaged a realtor to help find a suitable home in Worcester County for purchase. Their attempts to find a suitable home that fit their needs having proved unsuccessful, the couple bought a parcel of land, located at 50 Capetown Road, Ocean Pines, Maryland, on which to build a permanent residence. In July of 2000, the contract for purchase of the lot was executed and the couple tendered an earnest money deposit.

On September 5, 2000, the Oglesbys closed on the lot and the construction financing and construction began almost immediately. The appellant listed his Wicomico County residence as his address on the deed. Throughout the construction period, the appellant made almost daily trips to the construction site to inspect the progress of the construction. Although the bulk of his mail was still being delivered to his Wicomico County address, he arranged to receive mail relating to insurance and the bank loans for the Ocean Pines property at the Ocean Pines address. The appellant paid water and sewer fees on his new home while it was under construction. In addition, he paid home-owner association dues to the Ocean Pines Association and property taxes to Worcester County. At the same time, the appellant paid taxes in Wicomico County. During this period, he remained a member of the Wicomico County Bar Association, but did not join the Worcester County Bar Association.

As he had done while a resident of Wicomico County—the court found that the appellant had voted in most of the primary and general elections in Wicomico County—the appellant voted in the November 7, 2000 general election in Wicomico County. In order to vote in Wicomico County, a voter, upon registering to vote, must sign an oath attesting to residency in Wicomico County.⁵ The appellant did not change his driver's license and voter registration, expressly evidencing his Worcester County residence, until April of 2001.⁶

The certificate of occupancy for the appellant's Worcester County home was issued on December 18, 2000. The Oglesbys moved into the Worcester County home on December 20, 2000, and they have since lived there continuously.

The trial court concluded that the

"evidence conclusively demonstrates that [Wicomico County was the appellant's] domicile, and the question before this court is whether the domicile ended—and, consequently [the appellant's] Worcester County domicile began—on September 5, 2000 when [the appellant] closed on property in Worcester County, or whether [the appellant's] domicile changed following November 5, 2000, the date that [the appellant] would have to domicile in Worcester County in order to be eligible for the office of State's Attorney."

III.

In this Court, the appellant makes three arguments in urging this Court to reverse the judgment of ...