A panel of three judges heard arguments on Monday in a challenge to the eligibility of a newly-elected school board member to hold public office in Shenandoah County. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
As WMRA previously reported, L. M. "Mike" Scheibe II was elected to the Shenandoah County School Board in November, but did not disclose a prior felony conviction or the date of his restoration of voting rights on a candidacy form. His opponent, Brent Wilson, is contesting the election in the Shenandoah County Circuit Court.
On Monday, three judges presided over the hearing – Kevin Black, Heidi Meinzer, and John Cook. Black began the proceedings by saying "it doesn't sound like the facts are much in controversy," that Scheibe has a 2004 third-degree felony conviction from Pennsylvania and he regained his voting rights automatically in that state after being released from incarceration, without "affirmative action taken by a governor."
The Virginia Constitution states that to qualify to hold public office, a person must be qualified to vote for that office, and "no person who has been convicted of a felony shall be qualified to vote unless his civil rights have been restored by the governor or other appropriate authority."
Attorneys for both parties argued as to whether Scheibe's civil rights had been restored by an appropriate authority under Virginia law. Scheibe's attorney, Peter Hansen, cited a 1980 attorney general's opinion that other states' laws restoring civil rights to a "statutory classification of persons" do meet Virginia's standard. He also said there are "potentially a lot of voters" that committed a felony in another state and never had their voting rights taken away, or had them automatically reinstated there before moving to Virginia.
Judge Meinzer asked the parties if the panel should consider whether Scheibe's conviction, criminal trespassing, would be considered a felony in Virginia.
Wilson's attorney, Elliott Harding, said that a person convicted of a felony in another state is still a felon in Virginia, even if Virginia's laws on that issue are more lenient. He gave the example of someone being convicted of a cannabis-related felony in North Carolina and then moving here.
The judges gave the parties until January 10 to file additional evidence and arguments in the case, after which they plan to issue a written decision.
