MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon Treasurer Jim Shipley announced Tuesday night that he is going to resign his elected position, effective 4 p.m. on Sept. 7, amid controversy regarding his residency outside the city limits.
Shipley continues to hold his elected office, despite the fact that he has not met the residency requirement for over two years. According to the Ohio Revised Code, a city’s treasurer must be a resident of the city at the time he or she declares candidacy for the position, and must continue to be an electorate of that district throughout the elected term.
Shipley said he has lived at his current residence on Indian Hills Road for 26 months. He is a registered voter of Morris Township.
Mount Vernon City Law Director Bill Smith sent a letter to Shipley on April 25, 2011, explaining that he was violating Section 733.68 of the Ohio Revised Code by not living in the district he was elected to represent. Furthermore, Smith said Shipley should forfeit his hold on the office. Over a year later, Smith sent a letter to the Knox County Board of Elections asking for an investigation regarding Shipley’s residency. The board, after conferring with the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, said it has no jurisdiction of elected officials.
According to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, when Shipley moved from the city, he immediately forfeited his right to that elected position.
