Bankrupt Jefferson County, Ala., is looking for a new head staff attorney.
County commissioners voted 4 to 1 on Friday fire Jeff Sewell for disrupting bankruptcy settlement negotiations on several occasions, among other issues. They ultimately allowed the county attorney to retire involuntarily.
David Carrington, president of the board, suspended Sewell on April 8 and banned him from his office in advance of the commission meeting, according to the Birmingham News.
“It is clear to me that Mr. Sewell’s ongoing interference with bankruptcy settlement negotiations is not in the best interest of the county, is counterproductive to our focus on exiting bankruptcy as soon as possible, and needlessly increases our legal fees,” Carrington reportedly said before the vote to fire Sewell.
Carrington said he believed that Sewell should be terminated, but commissioners later allowed him to retire. Sewell had been with the county for 25 years, and was lead attorney since 2008.
Commissioner Jimmie Stephens brokered the deal with Sewell, and said denying him retirement would not have been fair since many of his years with the county were “good.” Sewell will qualify for retirement benefits in two years when he reaches 55 years of age.
Carrington reportedly said that he would like a new county attorney to be hired in two or three weeks.
