Fired public defender says he plans to challenge ouster

Houston County’s former chief public defender says he was wrongly fired and plans to sue in response.

Nick White, who served as Houston County’s public defender for nine years, said he was fired solely because he has continued to insist that the county hire more attorneys to meet the circuit’s caseload.

The Houston County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to fire White. During a called meeting Wednesday, the board appointed Mike Long, its former county attorney, to fill the role on an interim basis.

“The commissioners felt like the department needed a new direction,” commission Chairman Tommy Stalnaker said after the meeting. He declined to be any more specific.

Several members of the public defender’s office were in the audience. Angie Coggins, the chief assistant public defender, asked several times to speak during the session, but Stalnaker declined to take public comments.

Contacted after the meeting, White said he met with the board Tuesday before the commissioners voted to fire him. He said he was told there was no issue with his job performance, but that the board “wanted to go in a different direction.”

He said he was offered a severance package to resign but refused it.

He said there is no question in his mind that he was fired because he has pushed for the county to hire more attorneys for the office. State guidelines call for the office to have two more attorneys, he said, but he asked for just one and was refused.

“The county is operating outside of approved guidelines for caseload per attorney,” he said. “When I had a meeting on May 24 with the chairman, he was upset with me that I asked for an additional attorney. He was upset that I asked for increased funding to alleviate this caseload that we have. I was told then at that meeting that my job is at will and I serve at the pleasure of the board.”

White disputed that he works at the pleasure of the board, which means he could be fired without a reason being given. He said he has hired an attorney and will file a lawsuit.

Contacted later about White’s comments, Stalnaker referred questions to County Attorney Tom Hall. Hall also said that as a department head, White works at the pleasure of the board. He also repeated the “different direction” reason for the firing when asked about White’s remarks.

White said the board hired Long as interim public defender to have someone who would go along with them. He said Coggins is an excellent attorney and she should have been given the interim job.

Houston is among only six sites in the state in which the public defender’s office is not under the Georgia Public Defender Council but operates as a county department, White said. The local office has eight attorneys who handle Superior Court and three who handle State Court, where misdemeanor cases are decided.

White said Houston County is subject to being sued by not providing the proper number of attorneys for the public defenders office. He said he has warned the county repeatedly in writing that the county could be sued over the number of attorneys in the office.

“They just killed the canary in the coal mine and hired a former county attorney who is beholden to them,” he said.

Stalnaker said the open position will be advertised immediately, and he hoped to have it filled within 30 days. In the meantime, he said, business in the office will go on “as usual.”

This story was originally published August 3, 2016 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Fired public defender says he plans to challenge ouster."