Former Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard told a county elections board in Georgia on Monday that she’s been living in that state since before her mayoral term ended last year — contradicting Illinois law.
Henyard, whose mayoral term was mired in controversy over several misconduct investigations, is running as a Republican for a Fulton County, Georgia, commissioner seat.
She had lost her reelection bid for Dolton mayor in February 2025. The winner, Dolton Trustee Jason House, was sworn in as mayor May 5, 2025.
Henyard served as Dolton mayor through May 4, 2025, but she told the Fulton County Board of Elections that she has lived in Fulton County since May 1, 2025. Illinois law states mayors must live in the municipality they represent for their entire term.
“I lost the election in February. … I was no longer serving in that capacity,” Henyard said.
“Basically, I was a lame duck. Basically, I couldn’t do anything,” Henyard said, responding to questions from Commissioner Julie Adams.
“But you were mayor, correct?” Adams asked.
“My title was mayor, yes,” Henyard said.
“Did you know that in Cook County, Illinois, to hold an office there, you have to be a resident in that jurisdiction?” Adams said. “So, you were the mayor until May 4 of 2025, but yet you’re saying you became a resident of Georgia May 1 of 2025.”
“OK,” Henyard responded.
Henyard did not answer when questioned if she still was being paid by Dolton through May 4, the end of her term. Henyard also was a Thornton Township trustee at the time.
The election board met Monday to question Henyard’s Fulton County residency because she’s required to live there for a full year before running for office. After about 30 minutes of questioning, the elections board voted 3-1 to approve Henyard’s residency requirement.
The investigations into Henyard’s conduct in Dolton include an ongoing federal probe into a $200,000 payment to a controversial contractor whose owner was convicted of bribery and sentenced to five years in federal prison.
Earlier this year, the Village of Dolton sued Fifth Third Bank, claiming the bank enabled Henyard to “steal” $1.9 million in public funds over at least one year.
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot conducted a noncriminal investigation that found Henyard mishandled the village’s money through “excessive” spending with “very little oversight.” That probe examined payments to vendors without approval, which is the focus of the village’s recent lawsuit, as well as village employees’ trips to Las Vegas and Henyard’s use of federal relief funds through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Henyard also was accused in 2024 of attempting to cover up an alleged sexual assault of a township employee. In a lawsuit, the employee accused Andrew Holmes, a Dolton trustee and community activist, of raping her while in Las Vegas for a conference. The employee claimed Henyard tried to cover up the incident to protect herself and retaliated against the employee when she tried to come forward about the assault.