A Jefferson County Circuit Court judge has disqualified one school board candidate from running in the November election while another has voluntarily withdrawn, both after a Louisville Public Media investigation found they filed to represent districts where they do not live.

Judge Melissa Logan Bellows ruled Friday that Gay Perry-Adelmann be removed from the ballot for District 3 after determining her claim to live in a hotel within that district does not meet state residency requirements. The judge noted that Adelmann failed to prove she had a legitimate District 3 residence despite multiple opportunities to do so.

The investigation, published in July, also revealed that TraShaun Spencer filed to run in District 5 despite living in District 1. Spencer announced Monday that she will voluntarily withdraw from the race.

State law explicitly requires school board candidates to live in the districts they seek to represent. The Jefferson County Clerk's Office said it has not yet received formal notice of the court order but does not plan to reprint ballots. Instead, it will post notices informing District 3 voters that any votes cast for Adelmann will not be counted.

The disqualifications come amid significant turbulence in the JCPS election cycle. Republican state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 4 earlier this year, reducing the school board from seven members to five and redrawing district boundaries. Critics raised concerns that the new districts would dilute Black voting power. All five restructured board seats will be contested in the November 3 election.

In a separate development, JCPS is challenging the constitutionality of another 2026 law that shifts decision-making authority from the board to the superintendent. The district faces a crowded ballot with 23 candidates running for five seats.