Samantha Ingram argues state's 90-day requirement should override Mobile's one-year rule as incumbent William Carroll contests her eligibility to serve.
Samantha Ingram, a former Mobile County Public School administrator, speaks during a candidates forum on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at Leinkauf Elementary School in Mobile, Ala.The winner of Mobile’s District 2 City Council race is challenging a four-decade-old local law that outlines residency requirements for elected officials.
Samantha Ingram, who won the Aug. 26 election to represent the downtown and midtown-based district, is arguing in court that the state’s 90-day residency requirement for municipal candidates should override Mobile’s 40-year-old one-year residency rule.Carroll, who lost his re-election bid, claims Ingram does not meet the one-year residency requirement and is therefore ineligible to serve.Mobile County Circuit Judge Brandy Hambright has scheduled a hearing on the motion for 10 a.m. on Oct. 15. Ingram is set to be sworn into office on Nov. 3 to begin a four-year term. She won the election with 52.7% of the vote, defeating Carroll, who received 43.2%. A third candidate, Reggie Hill, earned 4.1%. At the center of the legal challenge is whether the state’s 90-day residency requirement for municipal elections supersedes the one-year requirement found in the Zoghby Act, a 1985 law that established Mobile’s current mayor-council form of government.The Zoghby Act, created specifically for Mobile, ended the city’s three-member commission form of government and divided the city into seven council districts to ensure greater representation for minority communities. District 2 is a majority-minority district. Ingram’s legal team argues that more recent Alabama laws passed in 2003 and 2012 include a 90-day residency requirement and make no reference to a longer period. The lawsuit contends that the newer laws conflict with and effectively override the Zoghby Act. “The later acts have implicitly repealed the one-year residency language of the 1985 Zoghby Act,” the lawsuit states. Mobile City Councilman William Carroll speaks during a candidates forum on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at Leinkauf Elementary School in Mobile, Ala.Carroll’s lawsuit claims that Ingram has not publicly voted in Alabama since 2006 and was still an active voter in Georgia at the time of the August election. According to state records, she voted in Georgia in the November 2024 presidential election. The complaint also states that Ingram owns four properties, two of which are located within District 2 in Mobile. However, neither carries a homestead exemption, which is a tax benefit available only on an owner’s primary residence. Two additional properties, also without homestead exemptions, were purchased in Georgia in 2024. Mobile’s District 2 encompasses downtown Mobile and its surrounding neighborhoods including some of the more historic neighborhoods in the city’s midtown section. Carroll further alleges that Ingram has ties to several Georgia-based businesses related to her 2024 property purchases. The lawsuit was filed four days after the Mobile City Council certified the Aug. 26 election results. Carroll was the only council member who abstained from the vote. He declined to comment at the time on his decision.Mobile mayoral runoff today: Drummond and Cheriogotis face off in high-stakes election If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our
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