ATLANTA - Two school board officials are targeting a Georgia nepotism law that bans the immediate family of school administrators from running for election to a local school board, contending it unfairly restricts their rights to compete for office.
A federal judge struck down the law at their urging in April, but state officials asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the rules on Thursday because the restrictions are crucial to fighting nepotism. The three-judge panel did not issue a ruling immediately.
The lawsuit was filed after lawmakers adopted rules in 2009 restricting candidates from running for local school boards if a spouse, child, sibling, parent or in-law is a school superintendent, principal, assistant principal or other administrative staffer. It doesn't apply to anyone elected or appointed to school boards before July 2009.
Lamar Grizzle, a Bartow County school board member whose daughter is an assistant principal, and Kelvin Simmons, a former Gainesville school board member whose wife is an assistant principal, sued Secretary of State Brian Kemp in federal court.
The two claimed that school officials already are subject to conflict of interest rules that aim to prevent favoritism to relatives. Besides, they said, the rule is uneven because it doesn't apply to school board members who have friends or extended family in administrative positions.
After a judge struck down the law, Georgia attorneys filed an appeal. They contended that state lawmakers have the right to adopt strict rules to protect the public.
"There's a legitimate state interest in combating nepotism," said Ann Brumbaugh, an assistant state attorney. "The Legislature has the prerogative to write its statutes, and just because it's written a certain way doesn't make it unconstitutional."
Peter Olson, an attorney for the board members, said there are already checks and balances in the system to prevent favoritism. Lawmakers have adopted strict conflict of interest policies, and many local school boards have done so as well. And if nothing else, he said, there's always the power of the ballot box.
"That's what elections are for," he said. "If people feel like officials are acting unfavorably, they can throw them out of the office."