LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Lawmakers will consider whether one of them can remain a member of the state Legislature when the 2017 legislative session begins this week. Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers is accused of living outside his District 11 - an allegation he rejects.
His opponent in the November election, John Sciara, filed a residency qualifications challenge with the Legislature shortly after the voters overwhelmingly returned Chambers for another four-year term.
Sciara told the Lincoln Journal Star (https://bit.ly/2iGOcRM ) that several people have told him that Chambers lives in Bellevue but has a home in north Omaha that he uses as his address for residency purposes.
The state Constitution says a senator must reside within the district for a year before election. State law defines residence as the place in which a person is domiciled, that is actually or legally his or her permanent and principal home. And if a person leaves the residence, he or she must intend to return.
Sciara said Chambers isn’t abiding by the rules he purports to follow.
“If you’re going to keep talking about following the rules, you’d better live by the rules,” Sciarra said.
Chambers insists that he does. The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that residency is a matter of what a person intends, so “what has to be established is that I have abandoned my home, and it’s impossible to establish,” he said.
He sent information to other senators in November showing evidence of his north Omaha residence, including utility and other bills sent to that address.
Sciara hopes to find out this week how the Legislature’s Executive Board will review the challenge. The board is expected to create a committee with a minimum of five members. Any recommendation the committee makes will go to the full Legislature for a vote.
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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star, https://www.journalstar.com
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