Judge spent $80,000 of court money on furniture, kitty litter, guns, Alabama audit says

UPDATE: The judge has been indicted on 16 counts of the use of office for personal gain or for the gain of family members, perjury and making a false representation to Examiners of Public Accounts, the Alabama attorney general announced Jan. 29.

The judge is accused of using public funds to employ his son and reimburse himself for costs such as beach vacations, ski trips and travel to events he didn’t attend, among other expenses.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

The original story is below.

A judge spent more than $140,000 without documenting it properly, Alabama officials said. Then an audit found he spent most of it on kitty litter, guns and ammo, paying his son after he was hired as a law clerk and other personal expenses.

The judge authorized the use of thousands of court funds for those expenses, according to audits by the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.

The judge or his office could not comment on the suit to McClatchy News on Oct. 11.

Officials began investigating the Lauderdale County judge when spending was “questioned due to lack of documentation,” the Oct. 6 report says.

The report examines expenses from the judge’s office from July 2019 to July 2023. The audit found the judge had not complied with state and local laws and regulations, according to the report.

The money came from the Judicial Administration Fund, which allows the court to pay salaries and benefits of employees, as well as other expenses deemed necessary by the circuit judge, according to the report.

The judge was ordered to repay $112,000, part of which he paid during the course of the examination and part of which he paid afterward, according to the audit.

Examiners found the judge’s office spent more than $80,000 on expenses such as checks to the judge and others, personal meals and alcohol, travel, furniture not on courthouse property and personal items.

The audit found the personal items included electronics, eyeglasses, handguns, ammunition, kitty litter, car wash supplies, flowers, framing and golf items, according to the report.

The judge also hired his son as a law clerk without a contract and without his son undergoing the hiring process of other court employees through the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts, officials say.

About $28,000 came from wages paid to his son and other employees, according to the audit.

A different audit from the department similarly charged the judge more than $33,000 after it said he paid his son without proper documentation.

In total, he paid back more than $140,000 in expenses.

The judge told Alabama Daily News he accepts full responsibility for the mistakes. He attributed many of the accounting issues to the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I agree the proper bookkeeping during COVID was really virtually non-existent,” he told the Alabama Daily News. “It was sloppy. We didn’t follow acceptable accounting principles, primarily because there’s no one trained or experienced in those principles here that were in charge of the books during that period of time.”

He told the news outlet that sometimes he and other office staff would go to Sam’s Club and differentiate the office items and personal items on the receipt.

The report also found that procedures were not in place to make sure expenses were documented to show their purpose and make sure they were allowed.

He also told the news outlet that the purchase of the guns and ammunition was for protection in the courthouse.

Lauderdale County borders Tennessee and is about 120 northwest of Birmingham.

This story was originally published October 11, 2023 at 5:15 PM.