James Williams granted continuance on eligibility hearing

ATLANTA — A hearing scheduled Wednesday to determine Democratic qualifier James Williams’ eligibility to run for the state House District 151 seat was continued to Friday morning at the request of Williams’ attorney, Maurice King.

Following Republican District 151 Rep. Gerald Greene’s challenge of former Albany police officer Williams’ eligibility based on residency on March 14, three days after qualifying for the seat closed, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office sent the challenge to the Office of State Administrative Hearings, which scheduled a Wednesday hearing on the matter.

King said he asked for a continuance for additional time to prepare a defense to thwart Greene’s challenge.

“I still need more time to go through this; I would actually prefer a longer continuance,” King said after Wednesday’s action. “There’s no real rush on this matter because this race would not come up until the general election (Nov. 8). The one thing a lot of people seem to be missing is that this process needs to be fair. And something just ain’t right here.”

Greene said Wednesday he has no problem with the continuance.

“It’s just moved forward a couple of days,” he said. “We’ll be prepared for the hearing on Friday.”

The new time set by the Office of State Administrative Hearings is Friday at 10:30 a.m.

“I still have trouble seeing how the secretary of state’s office has any business telling the Dougherty County elections office to change its records,” King said.

Greene, who has served in the state Legislature for 33 years, the first 27 as a Democrat before switching to the Republican Party in 2010, challenged Williams’ candidacy when questions arose concerning the latter’s residency. Greene contends new district lines redrawn based on 2010 census figures moved Williams into House District 154.

Williams counters that he has voted in HD 151 during each of the last three election cycles and questions why there was never a concern until he qualified to run against Greene in the district. HD 151, which encompasses parts or all of nine Southwest Georgia counties, including Dougherty, is the only majority African-American district in the state that is represented by a Republican.

Several state leaders, including NAACP President Francys Johnson and House Minority Whip Carolyn Hugley of Columbus, have criticized Kemp’s office for its handling of the situation.