Judge faces inquiry

Thu, Feb. 05, 2004

The Birmingham News Associated Press

Russell County Probate Judge Al Howard is facing his second judicial ethics complaint in recent weeks.

The Russell County Commission approved 4-2 at its meeting Wednesday to ask County Attorney Billy Benton to file a complaint against Howard "for his interference in the legal duty of the commission to implement a required redistricting plan."

Commissioner Gentry Lee read the motion for the complaint, which will be filed with the Judicial Inquiry Commission of Alabama, with copies sent to the secretary of state and the state attorney general.

"The redistricting plan is the authority and responsibility of the county commission," Lee said. "It's not the responsibility of anybody else to interfere or tell the registrar they can't implement it."

Howard told the commission at a recent meeting that the redistricting plan was approved too late by the Justice Department and it could not be put in place by the June 1 primary. The commission asked for an opinion from the attorney general's office, which said the election could proceed. The commission then directed the registrar's office to implement the redistricting and notify voters of the changes.

"I think that they're up for re-election," Howard said when asked about the comm- issioners' decision. "I'm sure they're annoyed at me because I spoke out and said they weren't timely in any of their actions."

Lee said Howard himself delayed the vote six weeks by making the commission re-advertise and hold public hearings again before approving the redistricting. Howard has said he pushed the commission to get the numbers changed before the deadline, 180 days before the primary.

Commissioner Mervin Dudley said he thought everyone was working together to get the changes in place and that the commission needed to be very careful in blaming others for the delay. Chairperson Cattie Epps said residents have been calling her complaining that the commission didn't know what it was doing.

Commissioners J.D. Upshaw, Lee, Epps and Cecil McLemore voted for the motion, while Dudley and Commissioner Tillman Pugh voted against.

"I feel like the vote that we just took is basically retribution against the probate judge for his speaking out," Pugh said. "It appears the county commission is not willing to let people air their views."

Howard said he's not worried about the charge. "There's nothing to it that I can see," he said. "I've tried to be diligent, and so far as I can tell, I owe no one an apology."

Last week, a Russell County resident filed a complaint against Howard for discussing pending litigation in public. Howard had asked the commission to place County Administrator Leann Horne-Jordan back on leave until a lawsuit she has filed against the county is resolved. The complaints are not part of public record during an investigation, and the complainant's name is not released.