On April 22, 2015 we celebrated Administrative Assistants Day with flowers! We gathered in the grand jury room – filled with flowers – and each staff member made their own flower arrangement. A good time was had by all – including Investigator Ron Lansdell, who made his own "unique" arrangement. We are blessed with an outstanding staff, who are called upon to do more with less, and who perform their duties in exemplary ways daily!
On Tuesday, April 21st, we participated in National Victims Rights Week and welcomed Darlene Hutchinson Biehl, a victims advocate from Montgomery, as the keynote speaker at the annual VOCAL candlelight vigil in Wilson Park. Darlene shared her own story of being a victim of a violent crime at age 20, and how she has become a survivor and a tireless advocate for the rights of crime victims. VOCAL founder Miriam Shehane honored us with her attendance at the vigil, along with a large crowd who gathered in the park to celebrate the lives of the those lost to violent crime, and to light a candle in their honor. It was my honor to serve as emcee of this event again this year. For additional photos
The sudden death of Judge James Hall on Tuesday, April 7th, at age 55, shocked the legal community and the entire Shoals area. James Hall was my friend and collegue. We began our legal careers together as law clerks in the Circuit Court in 1987. James had a successfull career as an attorney, a city judge, and as probate judge. James was always upbeat and positve. I last saw him on Saturday, April 4th, at the Underwood-Petersville Community Center Breakfast. We chatted about nothing in particular that day, but he was smiling and laughing with those around us as we breakfasted with the folks gathered there at the first-Saturday-of-the-month ritual. James' visitation and funeral were attended b
Our efforts to resolve hundreds of pending traffic and misdemeanor cases in our district court in our Make it Up in March Campaign has been successful. The campaign allowed those with outstanding warrants for traffic tickets and misdemeanors to resolve the cases throughout the month of March and avoid arrest. On April 1st, Judge Carole Medley held court to attempt to resolve additional pending cases on the Make it Up in March docket. The next phase of the program will involve a coordinated effort between the District Attorney's Office and the Sheriff's Department to locate and arrest those people who failed to report to court as ordered and who have outstanding arrest warrants. Read TimesDai
