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Presley v. Etowah County Commission

502 U.S. 491 (1992)

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Presley v. Etowah County Commission

United States Supreme Court
502 U.S. 491 (1992)

Facts

Two county commissions in Alabama enacted provisions that changed the authority granted to their elected commissioners for determining how to allocate funds for road maintenance and repair. The Etowah County Commission (defendant) passed a common fund resolution that placed the county’s road funds in a common account and required county-wide determinations of how the funds would be spent. Prior to the resolution, funds had been allocated to individual county road districts, and the commissioner for each district had been fully responsible for determining how to spend the funds. The Russell County Commission passed a resolution that, among other things, abolished its individual road districts and transferred decision-making authority concerning road maintenance and improvement from the county commissioners to the appointed county engineer. Etowah County Commissioner Presley (plaintiff), along with other plaintiffs, filed a lawsuit challenging both resolutions because they had not been precleared subject to § 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The district court held that neither resolution was subject to preclearance, and Presley appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Kennedy, J.)

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