On the first day of the Fourth Council’s term, Councilor ltls_Meh introduced CO 4-1, the Foreign Interference Ordinance. It adds a new line to the county’s treason statute: any “Foreign State Actor” who registers for County Council, District Attorney, County Executive, Sheriff, “or any other legislative position,” or who serves in the Council, DA’s office, Executive’s office, or Sheriff’s office, “shall be guilty of Treason.”
A Foreign State Actor, under the bill, is any current member of the government, legislature, or judiciary of the State of Mayflower or the State of Ridgeway.
It Doesn’t Require Interference
Read the title, then read the text. The ordinance is called the Foreign Interference Ordinance, but it never mentions interference as something a person has to do. There is no act, no intent, no coordination with another government, and no harm. The crime is being a member of a listed government and filing to run for office here. Under this bill, someone who has never done a single thing on behalf of Ridgeway or Mayflower can be charged with treason for signing up for a ballot.
Who It Actually Covers
This is where the bill stops being abstract. It names two jurisdictions, the State of Mayflower and the State of Ridgeway. Mayflower is Clark’s government, and Clark’s officials are some of the most familiar names in Harrison County’s own government and community.
That means the list of people who count as Foreign State Actors is not small. This one comes from The Harrison Independent’s own memory and is not exhaustive:
- Mayflower (Clark) Cabinet: A1exCarter, Lorens20181 (Commerce Secretary), Zedronius (LESTA Director), robloxwolf123 (Chief Judge)
- Mayflower (Clark) Legislature: JE9SE, Vinnyvxx, Maeximillian, h6cki
- Mayflower (Clark) Judiciary: acerxtro, AlbertWellesley
- Ridgeway Senate: billybobthejoee
Being a Foreign State Actor isn’t a crime by itself. Only running or serving is. But several of these people do exactly that. Vinnyvxx and h6cki just won seats on this Council, so under the bill’s “serves” clause they would be guilty of treason right now. Lorens20181 ran for the Council this cycle. JE9SE and Maeximillian are former councilors who would be barred from running again. These are people consistently involved in Harrison County, and two of them hold Council seats today.
The Timing Problem
Candidate registration for this election closed on October 26th. The ordinance was introduced on November 1st. Anyone who registered to run did so before the bill existed, and “registers in an election” is the bill’s main trigger.
The text has no effective date and no language limiting the offense to conduct after passage. Other recent ordinances do. The KAREN Ordinance, for example, states that no offense under it applies to conduct before it takes effect. Criminal law generally looks forward, so the registration prong should not reach anyone who already filed. The “serves as” prong is murkier. Nothing in the bill says whether someone already in office is grandfathered, so the question is left for a courtroom.
A bill that could, depending on a clause nobody wrote, criminalize a sitting councilor’s current seat is not a bill that has been thought all the way through.
The Drafting
The bill has two sections titled “Definitions,” and the second one, which is where the actual amendment lives, starts at subsection (c) with no (a) or (b) before it. A stray closing quotation mark sits at the end of the definition of “Member of the government.” That definition covers “senator, member of cabinet, magistrate or any other similar elected position,” even though cabinet members and magistrates are usually appointed rather than elected. “Any other legislative position” has no definition. There is no way to verify whether someone holds office in another jurisdiction, no process for challenging a designation, and no appeal.
To its credit, Section 4(b) lets the Clerk’s Office correct clerical and numbering errors. It reads like the drafters knew they’d need it.
A Lighter Tool Exists
If the worry is divided loyalties, there are lighter options. Section 111 of the Charter already lets the Council set qualifications for office by law. A disclosure requirement or an eligibility rule would address the concern without calling a candidate a traitor.
The Fourth Council has a two-month term. Introducing a treason amendment on its first day, with gaps this size, suggests the bill was written fast. Slow down, proofread it, and ask who it hits before voting on it.
The Harrison Independent has not seen a vote on CO 4-1. We will report one when it happens.
The egos are on the docket. What remains to be seen is whether the Council can do anything else.
This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.
The Harrison Independent is an independently owned and operated press outlet and is not affiliated with the government of Harrison County or Community Management.