Panel: Judge lives in Shelby despite Facebook listing

SHELBY, N.C. — A panel has ruled in favor of a local judge after a man, citing the judge’s residency status on Facebook, challenged her right to run for office.

Robert Alexander Williams of Lawndale submitted the challenge against District Court Judge Dina Foster to the Cleveland County Board of Elections office.

Foster, according to Williams’ challenge, had “Charlotte, NC” listed as her place of residence on her personal Facebook page.

A hearing was held Friday morning in the county commissioners’ chambers. The three-member panel consisted of two members of the Cleveland County Board of Elections and one member of the Lincoln County elections board.

“The panel ruled that she lives where she lives and that’s Shelby, North Carolina,” said Steve Wells, chairman of the Cleveland County Board of Elections.

Foster serves Judicial District 27B, which includes Cleveland and Lincoln counties. Her address is listed on the Board of Elections website as on Meadowbrook Lane, Shelby. She has been a judge here since 1999.

Foster is currently seeking re-election and is unopposed.

Williams said his challenge was based on Foster’s statements to the public as a district court judge, “stating that she lived in Charlotte, North Carolina on Facebook,” Williams said.

At the hearing Friday morning, Foster produced various documents, including her voter registration, and several witnesses, including neighbors and colleagues, to prove she resides in Shelby.

Foster’s attorney, Lydia A. Hoza, said Foster has lived on Medowbrook Lane in Shelby since 1998 and has not vacated that residence, even temporarily.

Hoza said she didn’t dispute that Foster’s Facebook page had her home listed in Charlotte. At the time Foster set up the account, Facebook gave regional options rather than specific hometowns, she said.

“Our citizens have the right to keep our government in check,” Hoza said. “But those questions were certainly refuted.”

Wells said the panel had to review the challenge. “That’s the way the law is,” he said.

“My wife’s (Facebook page) says the same thing and I’ve been sleeping next to her for years and she’s not living in Charlotte,” Wells said. “I don’t think Facebook ought to be used as evidence of residence at all.”

WSOC