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<br />OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY <br />OPINION N0. 76-12 <br />December 17, 1976 <br />SUBJECT: Residence Requirements for City Council Candidates <br />REQUESTED BY: Florence I. Malone, Clerk of the Council <br />OPINION BY: Keith L. Gow, City Attorney <br />Richard E. Lay, Deputy <br />QUESTION: What residency requirements apply to candidates <br />for the City Council? <br />ANSWER: A candidate must be a resident of the ward <br />from which he is nominated beginning with <br />a date 30 days prior to the date on which <br />he files his nomination papers, and must <br />be a registered voter as of the date on <br />which he files his nomination papers. <br />ANA T.YG T G <br />Section 401 of the Santa Ana Charter reads in pertinent <br />part as follows: <br />"To be eligible to hold the office of councilman, <br />a person must be a qualified elector of the city, <br />and must be and have been for at least two (2) <br />years immediately preceding the date of his election <br />or appointment, a resident and registered elector <br />of the city. He must also be a resident of the <br />ward from which he is elected at the time he is <br />elected and for a period of one year prior to <br />that time." <br />~-- <br />The California Supreme Court, in Johnson v. Hamilton, <br />15 Cal. 3d 461, 125 Cal. Rptr. 129 (1975), has now firmly <br />established the limit on durational residency requirements for <br />public office candidates as follows: <br />"Accordingly it has been suggested that a public <br />entity may constitutionally require a prospec- <br />tive candidate to be a 'resident at the time he <br />files his nominating papers or equivalent declara- <br />tion of candidacy and for a period of not more ~ <br />than 30 days next preceding such date of filing, <br />. . <br />"Such a 30-day prefiling residence requirement <br />