Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith has been arrested and indicted by a grand jury on 6 counts of knowingly employing 3 school resource officers, a dispatcher, a jailer, and a deputy, all of whom weren’t APOSTC-certified, as required by law for those jobs.
) - Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith has been arrested and indicted by a grand jury on six counts of knowingly employing four school resource officers, a jailer, and a deputy, all of whom weren’t APOSTC-certified, as required by law for those jobs.
Smith’s second in command, Chief Deputy Ralph Williams, has also been arrested and indicted on one count of knowingly employing a deputy who wasn’t APOSTC-certified as required by law.unanimously deciding Deputy Andrew Neves-McDonald is “ineligible in Alabama for law enforcement appointment, training and/or certification as a law enforcement officer.”Sheriff Nick Smith hired Neves-McDonald as a sheriff deputy in 2024 and requested a Waiver of Lateral Entry Training Equivalency Training through APOSTC because of his previous law enforcement employment and certification in Arizona, according to records WBRC 6 News received through a public records request. According to APOSTC records, Neves-McDonald’s law enforcement certification in Arizona was suspended for cause , and he currently appears on the National Decertification Index for law enforcement because of that suspension. According to the indictment, Danny Alexander, Jeffrey Sparks, Sam Bennett, and Gregory Harrison were hired as SRO’s and allowed to carry a gun and badge despite being ineligible to hold the position. The indictment says Justin Kelley was hired as a Walker County jailer without the required APOSTC certification, and cites Andrew Neves-McDonald’s employment as a deputy despite not having APOSTC certification.Smith released the following statement through his social media:“Approximately one month ago, I stated that I was very disappointed that our District Attorney’s Office was drawn into the politics of the Walker County Sheriff’s race. That was when a contempt petition was filed against me and my office, despite the fact that I had already provided the information I was alleged to have been withholding that was subject to a subpoena. That petition was dismissed 28 minutes after I filed my response. Today, the business of the Walker County Sheriff’s Department was again interrupted by the District Attorney’s Office. The District Attorney’s Office sought out and obtained an indictment against me and my Chief Deputy. I have been embroiled with the Walker County Commission and the Walker County Civil Service Board over who I can hire and who I can fire. I recently filed a lawsuit against both entities to reclaim the ability to make my own hiring and firing decisions. Surprisingly, today’s indictment is against me for having employed School Resource Officers at several of our County Schools. This is not the result of any complaints regarding the behavior of any School Resource Officer. In fact, one of the men I am charged with having worked as a School Resource Officer received special recognition from the Walker County Board of Education for his efforts in stopping what had the potential to be a very bad situation. I have been charged with having non-APOSTC certified personnel operating vehicles and working in certain capacities while wearing Sheriff Department uniforms. There can be no doubt that the District Attorney is now charging me to help his friend’s campaign for Sheriff. The District Attorney was made aware of employees of JC Poe working in similar capacities at the Jasper Police Department. Charges have not been pursued against him by the District Attorney. Instead, he was called and told that he needed to make some changes, which he did on the very day I sent a message to the District Attorney. Vehicles of the Jasper Police Department were restriped to meet APOSTC compliance. If I was doing something wrong, why was I not afforded the same telephone call? The charges against me are administrative in nature and do not carry any jail time. However, I take these charges very seriously. This lawfare should stop. Criminal charges should not be used to try to influence national elections, and criminal charges should not be used to try to influence the local Sheriff’s race. I intend to vigorously defend these charges. I did not play a role in either of the District Attorney’s campaigns. He should remove himself from mine."Even though the top two law enforcement officials in the county are facing charges, a legal expert says that doesn’t mean they’ll be forced out of office. Both Smith and Williams can keep doing their jobs while the cases go through the court system. Attorney Roger Appell says the charges don’t carry any jail time, only fines. He doesn’t feel anything else will happen due to these being what he calls the lowest level of misdemeanors. “The maximum he could get is $1,000 fine for each case. So technically he could get a one dollar fine. He could be fined six dollars for this entire amount. I don’t think there will be any other ramifications upon a conviction,” Appell said.‘There is over a foot of feces’: Estimated 100 animals found in unacceptable living conditions
Andrew Neves-Mcdonald Nick Smith Walker County Alabama Jonathan Hardison Morgan Hightower Jenn Horton Jennifer Horton Walker County Jail Walker County Jail Investigation APOSTC-Certified Chief Deputy Ralph Williams Law Enforcement Officer Danny Alexander Jeffrey Sparks Sam Bennett Gregory Harrison Andrew Neves-Mcdonald Wbrc Wbrc News Myfoxal Fox6 Fox6 News Waiver Of Lateral Entry Training Equivalency Train National Decertification Index
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