EKB News

It's a policy that's long been debated and sometimes rejected in Huntington. In 1965, Huntington residents added a residency requirement to the City Charter that required city workers to live in Huntington, a policy which has often been challenged. Since 1983, the requirement policy has been taken to court five times, sometimes upheld and sometimes rejected. This week, a proposed court settlement seems to have been reached, stemming from a 2006 case in which a Huntington firefighter and police officer challenged the requirement. The proposed settlement would exempt city employees from the residency requirement until after the settlement is entered as an order, the same settlement agreement which council members voted 6-5 to reject in August. Former Cabell Circuit Judge John Cummings struck the law down in January 2007, saying it violated civil service protections that allow police officers and firefighters to appeal firings.