Shelby County has no way to determine if an employee violates its residency policy, memo says

Shelby County can’t determine whether embattled director of corrections Anthony Alexander lives in the county, county attorney Marlinee Iverson told Commission Chairman Mark Billingsley in a memo earlier this week.

The reason is that “the County has not adopted a clearly articulated test for determining whether any employee is in conformity or in violation of the Charter’s residency requirement,” Iverson wrote.

The memo came shortly after news that the mayor’s administration is standing by Alexander after commissioners passed a vote of no confidence in the director of corrections, urging Harris to terminate his employment after allegations that he actually lives in Tipton County, potentially violating the Shelby County Charter.

Several commissioners have taken the memo to mean that the county’s residency policy is, in some cases, essentially unenforceable.

Read more: https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2019/11/26/shelby-county-employees-residency-policy-corrections-director/4300233002/