Case Name: HINDS COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION, Connie Cochran, Chairman, J.W. "Jim" Taylor, Lelia Rhodes, Margaret McLarty and Ruth Shirley v. Henry L. BRINSTON
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 1996-03-28
Citations: 671 So. 2d 667
Docket Number: No. 95-CA-01026-SCT
Parties: HINDS COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION, Connie Cochran, Chairman, J.W. “Jim” Taylor, Lelia Rhodes, Margaret McLarty and Ruth Shirley v. Henry L. BRINSTON.
Judges: DAN M. LEE, C.J., PRATHER and SULLIVAN, P.JJ., and PITTMAN and SMITH, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 671
Pages: 667–670

Head Matter:
HINDS COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION, Connie Cochran, Chairman, J.W. “Jim” Taylor, Lelia Rhodes, Margaret McLarty and Ruth Shirley v. Henry L. BRINSTON.
No. 95-CA-01026-SCT.
Supreme Court of Mississippi.
March 28, 1996.
Vicki R. Slater, Michael S. Allred, John I. Donaldson, Allred & Donaldson, Jackson, for Appellants.
Sorie S. Tarawally, Louise Harrell, Jackson, for Appellee.

Opinion:
McRAE, Justice,
for the Court:
This ease involves an appeal from the decision of the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County which declared Henry L. Brinston qualified as a candidate for the office of Circuit Clerk of Hinds County, Mississippi. Because of Brinston's failure to rescind his Madison County homestead exemption or to produce evidence establishing residency elsewhere, we reverse the lower court and conclude he is not qualified to be a candidate in the race for Circuit Clerk of Hinds County.
Henry L. Brinston submitted an application for candidacy as an independent candidate for the office of Circuit Clerk of Hinds County, Mississippi to the Hinds County Election Commission ("Commission") on March 1,1995. The Commission wrote Brin-ston on March 31, 1995 informing him that without further proof of his residency in Hinds County, he would not be qualified to run for office in Hinds County. The Commission based its decision on Brinston's homestead exemption documentation which established him as a Madison County resident. The Commission wrote Brinston on September 7,1995 and informed him again to present proof of residency in Hinds County. By letter dated September 7, 1995, Brinston informed the Commission that his homestead exemption was claimed in Madison in January of 1994, but that he had changed his residency to his mother's house in Hinds County to 2421 Newport Street in Jackson due to marital problems. He also provided additional evidence of his attempt to establish residency in Hinds County.
On September 13, 1995, the Commission denied Brinston's application for candidacy based on Brinston's failure to rescind his homestead exemption filed in Madison County. Brinston filed a petition for judicial review with the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 23-15-963 (1972). After an expedited hearing on September 29,1995, the trial court reversed the Commission's decision and entered an order finding Brin-ston qualified as a candidate for Circuit Clerk of Hinds County. The trial court subsequently denied the Commission's motion for reconsideration. The Commission appealed by Bill of Exceptions to this Court pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 23-15-963(6) (1972).
Since this ease does not concern the qualifications of legislative candidates, we find the case of Gadd v. Thompson, 517 So.2d 576 (Mfiss.1987), overruled in part by Foster v. Harden, 536 So.2d 905 (Miss.1988) controlling in this matter. In Mississippi, residence and domicile are synonymous for election purposes. Gadd, 517 So.2d at 578. The county of domicile requires that an actual residence be voluntarily established with a bona fide intention of remaining in that county for an indefinite period of time. Id. at 578; Smith v. Smith, 194 Miss. 431, 434, 12 So.2d 428, 429 (1943).
In Gadd, this Court determined the residence of a legislative candidate for purposes of Article TV, § 41 of the Mississippi Constitution. We held that "the filing of a homestead exemption conclusively establishes domicile for electoral purposes in the county of filing, regardless of circumstances indicating that certain ties to other counties still exist." Gadd, 517 So.2d at 579. Because an individual must be permitted to prove that his residency is somewhere other than it might appear, this Court clarifies this holding to mean there is a strong but rebut-table presumption of residency in the county where the homestead exemption is filed. The location of the homestead exemption creates this strong presumption because of the benefit in the form of tax relief one receives by filing.
A closer look at the Gadd ease demonstrates that Gadd never negated the presumption that his residence was in the county where he filed his homestead exemption. Id. at 577-78. The facts revealed that Gadd remained on the voting rolls in the county he sought candidacy, but that he owned no real property in that county. Id. at 577-78. Although Gadd maintained a post ofSce box in the county in which he desired to be elected, he had filed his homestead exemption and paid taxes in a county other than the one in which he was seeking election. Id. at 577-78. Because Gadd's homestead exemption was filed in another county and he introduced no other compelling evidence proving residency elsewhere, this Court declared Gadd unqualified to be a candidate and de-certified him as a nominee for the state legislature. Id. at 579.
The facts of the case at hand are analogous to the situation presented in Gadd. Brin-ston's homestead exemption was filed in Madison County although he remained on the voting rolls in Hinds County. Consequently, there is a strong presumption that his residence was in Madison County. Brin-ston was notified by the Commission of problems with his qualifications based on his homestead exemption in Madison County, yet he failed to take any kind of corrective action to prove his homestead was in a location different than it appeared to be. Brinston has shown nothing other than a mailing address at his mother's house in an attempt to establish residency in Hinds County. He has received the benefit of his homestead exemption for the entire year in Madison County. Therefore, the lower court's judgment in this case is reversed as Henry L. Brinston is not qualified to run for the office of Circuit Clerk of Hinds County, Mississippi.
REVERSED AND RENDERED.
DAN M. LEE, C.J., PRATHER and SULLIVAN, P.JJ., and PITTMAN and SMITH, JJ., concur.
BANKS, J., dissents with separate written opinion joined by JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., J.
MILLS, J., not participating.
. In Foster, this Court overruled Gadd to the extent that it was inconsistent with the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, art. IV, § 38 which vests competence of a legislative candidate's qualifications in each house of the legislature. Foster, 536 So.2d at 907.