Lawsuit over Washington County Judge's hiring practices dropped

George Butler
George Butler

FAYETTEVILLE -- A lawsuit against Washington County Judge Joseph Wood over hiring practices was voluntarily dropped Monday by former county attorney George Butler.

Most of the claims in Butler's lawsuit were dismissed in May and July. Butler asked this week to dismiss his lawsuit without prejudice, meaning it could be refiled.

A central question in the case, which wasn't ruled upon, was whether county hiring policies are an unconstitutional infringement on a county judge's authority to hire his own employees, as attorneys for Wood argued. Wood also argued he did, in fact, follow county personnel policies when hiring employees.

Wood and six employees named in the lawsuit were dismissed in their individual capacities in early July by Circuit Judge Gary Arnold, a special judge from Saline County appointed to hear the case after local judges recused.

Those employees include Brian Lester, county attorney; Sharon Lloyd, grant administrator; Josh Medina, veterans service officer; Dwight Gonzales, building and grounds director; Jim Kimbrough, former planning director; and Julie Harris, executive assistant to Wood. Kimbrough resigned from his position in March.

Jim Lingle filed the class-action lawsuit April 26, 2017, on behalf of Butler, a former county attorney and chief of staff for former Washington County Judge Marilyn Edwards.

Wood was elected in 2016. He fired four employees when he came into office in early 2017. Those employees were Juliet Richey, planning director; Renee Biby, grants administrator and utilities coordinator; Wayne Haines, veterans service officer; and County Attorney Steve Zega.

Wood then hired six employees who were included in the lawsuit.

Wood filled positions without advertising or taking applications, which is against county policy, the lawsuit claimed.

Arnold ruled in May the employees hired by Wood can keep their salaries.

NW News on 10/30/2018

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