Oak Ridge Today

Crowley’s legal bills to be considered

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David Crowley

David Crowley

From WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Commission’s Operations Committee will consider Public Works Director David Crowley’s request that his legal bill be paid after he was acquitted of criminal charges last month. Crowley had been charged with illegally inspecting five buildings without the proper certification, but he was acquitted on those charges in April.

In fighting the charges, Crowley’s legal bill came to $59,258.62. In the past, the County Commission has approved the payment of legal fees for county employees charged with crimes connected to their positions when they are cleared out of the county law director’s budget. The request was considered earlier this month and approved by the county’s budget committee. [Read more…]

Fritts: Ouster statute does not apply to Anderson County law director

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Chuck Fritts, Myron Iwanski, and Dusty Irwin

Anderson County Commission Chair Chuck Fritts, left, is pictured above with commissioners Myron Iwanski, center, and Dusty Irwin. Citing an opinion from the County Technical Assistance Service, Fritts on Wednesday said the ouster statute does not apply to the Anderson County law director, the defendant in a controversial ouster suit.

 

The ouster statute does not apply to the Anderson County law director, the defendant in a controversial ouster suit, Anderson County Commission Chair Chuck Fritts said Wednesday.

Law Director Jay Yeager is essentially a county employee rather than an official, and the ouster statute doesn’t apply to him, said Fritts, citing the opinion of a legal consultant at the University of Tennessee’s County Technical Assistance Service in Nashville.

Citing the CTAS opinion, Fritts said the petitioners who brought the ouster suit against Yeager should pay the legal costs if they lose. The county could pay Yeager’s legal fees if the ouster suit fails or is thrown out of court.

In an opinion sent to Fritts on July 29, CTAS Legal Consultant Stephen Austin said the Anderson County law director is a county employee and not a county officer.

“Accordingly, the ouster statutes are not applicable to the law director,” Austin said. Yeager made a similar argument in a July 11 motion to dismiss filed in Anderson County Chancery Court. [Read more…]

2014 Election: Mayoral candidates ‘bicker’ over tax hikes, lawsuits

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Anderson County Mayor Debate

The three candidates for Anderson County mayor are pictured above at a debate moderated by radio talk show host Hallerin Hilton Hill, left. Starting at center, the three candidates in the August 7 mayoral election are Terry Frank, the incumbent and a Republican; Democrat Jim Hackworth; and Independent Bradley Rickett.

CLINTON—She’s attacked him over a 24-year-old tax hike. He’s blasted her over lawsuits and turmoil in the Anderson County Courthouse.

The two candidates, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and her challenger, Jim Hackworth, will face off in the August 7 election.

Frank, a Republican, was first elected mayor in a special election in August 2012. Now she is running for her first four-year term.

Hackworth, a Democrat, is a former state representative and Anderson County commissioner.

The two have battled in forums, on radio shows, and through ads and flyers. Their political squabbles have largely ignored the third candidate, Independent Bradley Rickett. [Read more…]

County officials urged to hire attorneys in ouster suit as legal fees rise

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Jay Yeager and Lynn Byrge

Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager, left, the defendant in an ouster suit filed by a group of residents, is pictured with Lynn Byrge, one of the petitioners, during a Monday morning Anderson County Commission meeting.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:06 a.m. July 22.

CLINTON—The legal fees in a few high-profile disputes between top Anderson County officials could approach a half-million dollars, and Anderson County commissioners should all seek their own legal counsel in an ouster lawsuit filed against the law director, stunned commissioners were told Monday.

Subpoenas have already been issued in the ouster suit, and several officials, including a few County Commissioners, have reportedly received letters asking them to waive their attorney-client privilege.

Anderson County Commissioner Myron Iwanski, who is former interim mayor, said some of the records he’s been asked to provide go back 10 years, and some of them are personnel records. Iwanski said he needs legal representation because he doesn’t want to disclose anything improper, a mistake that could lead to another lawsuit.

“It’s about trying to do what’s right for the county,” Iwanski said.

He said former Anderson County Jail Administrator Avery Johnson has also been served with a subpoena and will need legal representation.

“This is just the start of the legal battle,” Iwanski said. [Read more…]

Legal fees add up as officials try to ‘stop the bleeding’ in dispute between mayor, sheriff

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Anderson County Detention Facility

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Sheriff Paul White are engaged in a legal fight over a two-page salary agreement that includes, among other things, six months’ worth of funding for 36 new employees at a new jail pod at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton. (Photo courtesy Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

CLINTON—The legal fees might already exceed $20,000, and they could continue to mount in a bitter dispute between the mayor and sheriff over a $7.7 million salary agreement for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

Efforts to “stop the bleeding”—and avoid extra expenses for Anderson County residents—were unsuccessful after a lengthy, heated debate on Monday night. During that debate, Anderson County commissioners rejected several proposals to cover some legal fees of Mayor Terry Frank in her response to a salary suit filed in July by Sheriff Paul White. Among the rejected options were proposals to pay Frank’s fees so far but no more, capping them at $40,000, or covering all expenses until the matter is resolved.

Frank has refused to sign the salary agreement, saying it includes about $1 million more for salaries and overtime than was approved by commission in June. But the Sheriff’s Department has said the salary agreement is routine and was drafted according to state law, and actual spending will be closer to the $6.6 million approved by the commission as part of this year’s budget. [Read more…]