The Meridian City Council has set Apr. 14 as the date for the special election of a new Ward 2 council member.

Tyrone Johnson held the seat until he was ousted on Feb. 21 after fellow council members determined he didn’t live in his ward.

To qualify to run, candidates must bring paperwork and a petition signed by 50 qualified Ward 2 voters to the city clerk’s office by March 25, according to City Clerk Brandye Latimer. 

An unofficial opinion from the Mississippi Attorney General’s office says candidates must have lived in Meridian a minimum of two years and be a registered voter in Ward 2, Latimer said. 

Johnson was elected to the seat in 2017, succeeding Dustin Markham, who lost an unsuccessful run for mayor that year.

In a special called meeting last month, Johnson said he was living in a home in Ward 1 after his lease expired at his Ward 2 residence on Jan. 5. He was notified of the lease expiration in December, he said.

He said he had been “aggressively looking for a home in Ward 2.” 

Johnson had also served as council president.

The city council voted Tuesday to select Ward 4 Councilwoman Kim Houston as president and Ward 5 Councilman Weston Lindemann as vice president.