Houston public defender’s firing draws scrutiny of state agency

Houston County commissioners may have violated the county’s agreement with the Georgia Public Defender Council when they fired public defender Nick White.

Commissioners fired White, who served as the county’s chief public defender for nine years, on Aug. 2. Chairman Tommy Stalnaker said the board wanted to go in a “new direction.”

But White, who has threatened to sue the county, said he was fired because he asked for a new attorney and warned the county could face litigation for having too few attorneys for the office’s caseload.

Houston is among six of the state’s 159 counties that opted out of a statewide public defender system when it was created in 2005. The Georgia Public Defender Council oversees that system.

As part of the opt-out agreement, Houston County has to provide independence for the public defender’s office by requiring a notice and hearing before terminating staff there, said Bryan Tyson, executive director for the council. The county needs to correct that and report back to the council about what it has done to correct the problem, he said.

“His (White’s) termination took place outside the process the was outlined in the opt-out agreement, and so that raises questions about Houston County’s compliance with that opt-out agreement,” he said.

Houston County Attorney Tom Hall declined comment. Stalnaker was not reached for comment.

White said he feels vindicated by the council’s vote.

“I am very, very pleased with the council’s vote, and it vindicates what I’ve been saying since day one of my dismissal, and that is that no public defender should be dismissed without cause,” White said. “That is not independence for the public defenders when a board of commissioners can just remove them because they decide they want to quote, ‘take the office in a different direction.’ ”

Tyson said he’s in the process of writing a letter notifying Houston County of the council’s concerns and need for corrective action.

How the situation is rectified is up to the county, he said.

“The council discussed several different ways in (a recent) meeting. One of the ways they discussed was to hold a hearing regarding Mr. White’s termination. Another one might be related to the policies that they put in place going forward about the independence of the office,” Tyson said.

White said he seeks to be reinstated as the chief public defender.

“Based on my interpretation ... in order for the county to come into compliance, it has to either reinstate me or give a reason to the council that they accept as to why I was dismissed, and the second thing that they have to do to come into compliance ... is that they have to assure the council that no public defender will ever be removed again at will,” White said.

“A public defender deserves and the law mandates that a person can only be removed for cause after they’ve been afforded a hearing and an opportunity to appeal any dismissal.”

White said he’s delayed filing a lawsuit to see how the county responds to the council’s action.

If the county does not comply, Tyson said the Georgia Public Defender Council could take away Houston’s authority to have its own public defender and open a state office there.

While the matter is being ironed out, Tyson said he does not expect legal services provided indigent clients in Houston County to be impacted.

Tuesday, Houston commissioners appointed Claudia Meier as chief public defender. She has been senior assistant public defender for 10 of the 17 years she’s worked for the office.

After White’s firing, four other public defenders in that office issued a news release in protest.

Executive directors for both the National Association of Public Defense and the Southern Center for Human Rights sent letters to Houston County asking commissioners to reconsider White’s termination.

This story was originally published October 10, 2016 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Houston public defender’s firing draws scrutiny of state agency."