Former 5th District City Councilman Henry W. “Chuck” Richardson said Tuesday he has hired an attorney to continue pursuing legal action to remove the district’s current representative, Councilman Parker C. Agelasto.

Mr. Richardson declined to name the lawyer at a news conference he held at City Hall in which he sought to clarify his strategy for removing Mr. Agelasto from office because Mr. Agelasto has moved from the 5th District into a home in the 1st District.

In a legal petition he previously filed in Richmond Circuit Court, Mr. Richardson argued that Mr. Agelasto has vacated the council seat with his move, citing a section of state law.

Mr. Agelasto, who maintains his voter registration in the 5th District, disagrees and is seeking to serve out his term, which ends in 2020.

Now 70, Mr. Richardson is disappointed that the other eight current members of City Council have not acted on the matter. He said he is asking the court to issue a declaratory judgment to settle the dispute.

“When you have a disagreement between two parties, and the disagreement is a matter of law, you can have a declaratory judgment,” Mr. Richardson asserted.

His goal is to have a judge issue such a judgment and then, if the ruling comes down in his favor, to use it to force City Council to begin a removal action.

Mr. Richardson said he wants to uphold the district system in Richmond that enabled African-Americans to play a major role in shaping local policy. He labeled as false rumors that he is doing this to clear the way for another run for the office or to oust an opponent of the proposed Coliseum replacement development plan.

However, former Virginia Attorney General Anthony F. Troy, who is representing Mr. Agelasto, said the court could issue such a judgment only if both sides agree that the evidence and facts are undisputed.

And that is not the case, Mr. Troy told the Free Press.

He said Mr. Agelasto disputes that the section of the state code cited by Mr. Richardson in his petition is applicable to the issue of residency.

Mr. Agelasto also disputes the assertion that he has permanently moved from the 5th District and would require an evidentiary hearing at which Mr. Richardson would have to provide proof of that claim, Mr. Troy said.