Hodges election results final

By Staff
Melissa Cason
The town of Hodges will not hold another election as the Supreme Court of Alabama overturned Franklin County Circuit Judge's order for a new election.
The ruling from the state's high court came down Friday ruling in favor of Mayor Ed Crouch.
Crouch appealed the Circuit Judge Terry Dempsey's ruling for a new election. Dempsey had declared a tie between incumbent Ed Crouch and Nick Howard. The election was not held pending the outcome of the appeal.
According to the ruling, Howard's attorney, Steve Graham, did not initially name Crouch as a defendant in the case, only the Town of Hodges. However, Graham filed an amendment to the complaint naming Crouch defendant. This amendment was made in September, well after the five-day period for election contest.
"Contest of the election of any person declared elected to any office of a town must be commenced within five days after the result of the election is declared," the ruling states.
Crouch filed a motion to dismiss the election contest because the contest was not filed in the appropriate amount of time.
"This Court has been unequivocal in stating that elections normally do not fall within the scope of judicial review," the ruling states. "An election contest is a statutory matter, and the statute governing the election must be strictly observed and construed."
The court said Dempsey should not have allowed the amendment on the case.
"It is well established that where the trial court has no such jurisdiction it must dismiss the action and that any other action taken by the trial court be void," the ruling stated.