The Greene County Democrat

Tag: Lawsuit

  • Greene County Commission Files Suit to Recover Nearly $5 Million in Bingo Funds Identified by State Examiners

    Greene County Commission Files Suit to Recover Nearly $5 Million in Bingo Funds Identified by State Examiners

    Office of The Greene County Commissioners

    Action seeks return of public money for emergency medical services and other lawful public purposes after State collection efforts stalled

    EUTAW, Ala. — September 29, 2026 — The Greene County Commission announced today that it has filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Greene County seeking to recover $4,966,427.69 in public funds that the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts determined were disbursed from the Greene County Bingo Fund by the Office of the Sheriff without adequate supporting documentation or for purposes not authorized by the Constitution of Alabama. The suit,  Greene County v. Benison, Case No. CV-2026-900059, names Sheriff Jonathan “Joe” Benison and the surety on his official bond. 

    The lawsuit is based on Examiners’ Report No. 25-560, a public record filed October 3, 2025,  covering the period October 1, 2018 through April 30, 2024. Following that examination and a  show-cause proceeding, the Chief Examiner of Public Accounts entered an order on September  17, 2025 fixing the unpaid charges at $4,966,427.69 and certified them to the Attorney General  and the District Attorney for collection under Alabama law. The report found, among other things,  more than $3.1 million in payments made directly to employees in addition to their county-paid  salaries, and more than $2.1 million in Bingo Fund disbursements —including nearly $1.2 million  to consultants and attorneys — for which adequate documentation was not provided. The report  also found that the Sheriff’s use of bingo assessments for salary supplements and other law enforcement expenses did not comply with the constitutional amendment that authorizes bingo in  Greene County. 

    Nearly a year has passed since those charges were certified. No collection action has been filed.  On July 6, 2026, the County Attorney wrote to the Attorney General and the District Attorney asking for a status report and explaining the urgency created by the financial condition of Greene  County Emergency Medical Services. That letter has not been answered. 

    “The State’s own examiners did their job. They found the money, they fixed the amount, and they certified it for collection,” said Garyia Spencer, Chair of the Greene County Commission. “We waited. We asked. We have heard nothing. The Commission has a duty to the people of this county  to protect public money, and we are not going to let nearly five million dollars sit unaccounted for  while our ambulances go unfunded. If the State will not collect it, Greene County will.” 

    The bingo assessments at issue were collected from bingo operators in Greene County under rules issued by the Sheriff, which state that the money is to be used to benefit the public welfare of the citizens of Greene County. Historically, those funds have supported the County Commission, the municipalities, the school system, the Health System, and emergency services. In July 2026,  Greene County EMS was forced to suspend ambulance transports for lack of funds; service was  restored only through emergency assistance and private donations. 

    The complaint asks the Court to declare that the Bingo Fund is public money held for the benefit of Greene County and its citizens; to order the Sheriff to pay the certified charges; to prohibit further spending of bingo assessments for purposes the Constitution does not permit; to require a full accounting of the Bingo Fund; and to recover on the Sheriff’s official bond, which under  Alabama law is payable to the county treasury. The Commission has asked that any funds  recovered be placed in a segregated account under the Court’s supervision and used only for lawful  public purposes, including emergency medical services, public health, public education, and the  municipalities of Greene County. The Commission is also seeking recovery of its attorneys’ fees  so that the cost of the litigation is not borne by taxpayers. 

    “This is not about one office or one official. It is about whether public money in Greene County will be spent the way the Constitution allows,” said Chairman Spencer. “We would welcome the  Attorney General and the District Attorney joining this effort. Until they do, the Commission will  carry it.” 

    The Commission emphasized that the lawsuit seeks recovery of funds, not the disruption of law  enforcement, and that the County will continue to fund the Sheriff’s Office and the county jail as required by law. The allegations in the complaint are based on the public findings of the  Department of Examiners of Public Accounts. 

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    About the Greene County Commission 

    The Greene County Commission is the governing body of Greene County, Alabama, responsible  for the County’s budget, roads, facilities, and general administration, and for safeguarding the  public funds entrusted to the County on behalf of its citizens.

  • Lawsuit claims state blocking Birmingham minimum wage hike violates Voting Rights Act

    By Kelly Poe | kpoe@al.com

     

    B'ham Fight for $15 protestors
     B’ham Fight for $15 protestors

     

    The suit that says Alabama broke the law by blocking Birmingham’s minimum wage hike was amended Thursday to claim the nullification violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In April, the Alabama National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Greater Birmingham Ministries filed the suit in U.S. District Court. The original suit claimed that HB 174 is tainted “with racial animus” and that is violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.
    The amended complaint filed Thursday added the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus and nine individual black state legislators as plaintiffs to the suit.
    The amended suit also added a new complaint: that the defendants violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by transferring control over minimum wages from Birmingham’s officials – who were voted in by Birmingham’s majority black electorate – to state officials, who were elected by a majority white electorate. The suit claims this effectively disenfranchises Birmingham’s voters.
    On Thursday morning, the Alabama NAACP and Greater Birmingham Ministries filed the suit in U.S. District Court. “It perpetuates an official policy of political white supremacy that has been maintained in Alabama since it became a state in 1819, whereby white control is preserved by state government over the governing bodies of majority-black counties, cities, and educational institutions,” the complaint says.
    The suit argues that the bill violates equal protection law because it targets an ordinance that Birmingham’s black community and council strongly supported.
    The Birmingham City Council voted in 2015 to raise the city’s minimum wage to $10.10 per hour through incremental raises. The Republican super majorities in the legislature’s House and Senate put a bill to void the increase on the fast track, prompting the council to expedite Birmingham’s raise, but the law ultimately voided the ordinance.