Simonds' Big Legal Bill

My View by Jim Yacavone

Published Nov. 12, 2105

Fannin County Commission Chairman Bill Simonds wants the county—meaning you, the taxpayers—to pay his $58,000 legal bill from his failed lawsuit against the post commissioners. So far the county has refused to pay it. 

Simonds hired Michael Bowers, the former Georgia Attor­ney General, to sue the post commissioners to stop the recent amend­ment to the county’s local legislation which gave the Commission rather than Simonds the right to hire and fire department heads. Simonds agreed to pay Bowers $400 an hour, but this high priced talent was not enough to win the case.

When he hired Bowers, Simonds signed an engagement letter stating that “[b]y executing this engagement letter in your capacity as Chairman of the Fannin County Board of Commis­sioners, you acknowledge that you have, or have obtained, the requisite authority to engage this firm.” The two post commis­sion­ers, Earl Johnson and Larry Joe Sosebee, deny that Simonds had such authority, and Lynn Doss, the county attorney, has written Bowers stating that the county “will not be remitting payment in full.”

Doss’s wording is curious. When she says that the county “will not be remitting payment in full” is she leaving room for the county remitting payment in part? That raises the issue of whether Simonds can pay part of the bill as long as the payment does not exceed his spending authority which was $4,500 at the time.

In refusing to pay the bill, the county is relying on Georgia Supreme Court cases that hold that “a local government must pay a local official's attorney fees (1) when the official, acting in his official capacity, is required to hire outside counsel to assert a legal position the local government attorney cannot assert because he or she has a conflict arising from his or her representation of the local government, and (2) when the official is successful in asserting his or her position.” Because Simonds was not successful in the case the county is not on the hook for his attorney’s fees.

An attorney for Bowers’ firm has threatened to sue the county or Simonds or both if the bill is not paid. He argues that the county is liable for the bill because Simonds, as Chairman, has the authority to appoint and fix the compensation of attorneys for the county. In other words, he’s saying that Bowers was acting as a county attorney when he sued the post commission­ers.

The attorney cited a 2000 Georgia Supreme Court case, Fannin County v. Vollrath, in support of Bowers’ position. The case he cited is actually called Vollrath v. Collins, and it may not sup­port Bowers’ position. While Simonds may have authority to hire more than one county attorney, the court in the Collins case said that “the county attorney serves as the legal representative and agent of the county, and the members of the board are clients.” If Bowers is a county attorney, how can he sue the post commissioners who are two of his clients? That’s a gross conflict of interest.

You wonder what Simonds was thinking when he signed that engagement letter saying he had authority to hire Bowers. Was it ignorance or arrogance on Simonds’ part? Did it ever occur to him to ask the county attorney whether he had such authority? At times it seems that Simonds forgets he is no longer employed in the private sector but rather is an elected public servant whose power is subject to laws and limitations.

One thing is clear—if Bowers sues the county, the taxpayers will be on the hook for even more attorney’s fees. I doubt this is the way Fannin County voters want county government to work. That’s my view, what’s yours?