Anyone looking to get married by the justice of the peace in Hahnville anytime soon is going to have to find another way to tie the knot – at least in District 1.
In a situation that has been defined as “confusing to say the least” by the St. Charles Parish Clerk of the Court’s office, Hahnville resident Henry Wolfe paid fees to be put on the election ballot despite a law passed by the state senate in disqualifying those over the age of 70 from seeking the post.
Wolfe won both the primary and the general election, and took the oath of office on Dec. 23 only to resign that office eight days later on Dec. 31 for personal reasons.
Wolfe, 72, did not seem to take the law too seriously according to Clerk of Court Lance Marino, who said he made Wolfe aware of the age restriction.
“I showed him the qualifications on the candidate’s printout,” Marino said. “I pointed out the age restriction and even highlighted it for him. But, I also told him it was not within my authority to tell him he couldn’t run, so he looked at me and said ‘I’m going to run anyway.’”
There were several justices the 2006 age restriction law concerned, including justice of the peace officers in other districts of St. Charles Parish. Earl “Pie” Tastet has served as justice of the peace in District 2 for 35 years and the law put his elected position is peril. That is until a Baton Rouge court ruled Tastet and others, like Henry Miller of District 6, were grandfathered into the position since they had held the office before.
In August, the Louisiana Justices of the Peace and Constables Association filed a suit against the state of Louisiana seeking to enjoin Act 495, which grandfathered in incumbent justices of the peace to the age requirement. The court action granted a temporary restraining order on Aug. 18 and a preliminary injunction on Sept. 2, 2014.
Wolfe believed the law would be overturned, as he told the Herald-Guide in an Aug. 28 2014 article.
Several calls to Wolfe’s home went unanswered and messages left did not result in a return call for comment as of press time.With District 1 absent a justice of the peace, a gubernatorial proclamation (No. 16 BJ 2015) calling for new elections this fall was written on Feb. 3. According to the decree, the primary will be held on Saturday, Oct. 24 and the general election on Nov. 21.
Until that time the justice of the peace responsibilities in District 1 can be handled by a neighboring district’s justice of the peace.
With many screaming age discrimination in this set of circumstances it seems ironic that Sen. Elbert L. Guillory (R), the person who had the bill passed in the state senate, recently turned 70 himself, and is currently campaigning for lieutenant governor of Louisiana.
Be the first to comment