• Skip to first row site navigation
  • Skip to second row site navigation
  • Skip to news entries
  • Skip to archive page
  • Skip to double wide sidebar
  • Skip to tabbed sidebar
  • Skip to left sidebar
  • Home
  • Classifieds
  • Legals
  • Subscribe
  • Photo Gallery
  • Community / Links
  • Current Weather
  • Calendar
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Liberty County ordered to pay $162,113 for Sheriff Finch's legal fees

The County Record

XML RSS Feed XML RSS Comments
  • Top Stories
  • News ▼
    • Question Of The Week
  • Sports
  • Schools ▼
    • from Altha Public School
    • from Blountstown Elementary School
    • from Blountstown Middle School
    • from Blountstown High School
    • from Carr School
  • Obituaries
  • Social
  • Crime
  • Legals
  • Classifieds
  • Videos

Liberty County ordered to pay $162,113 for Sheriff Finch's legal fees

Posted by
Kelli Peacock Dunn
in News
Thursday, December 11. 2014
Comments (0)
Circuit Judge Martin A. Fitzpatrick ruled Friday that Liberty County is required to pay $162,113.39 in legal fees for the trial of Sheriff Nick Finch last October.

As previously reported, Finch was arrested and suspended from office in the spring of 2013 on charges of official misconduct and destroying or altering public documents. However, he was found not guilty during an October 2013 trial and reinstated.

Who was responsible for paying his legal fees became a subject of debate resulting in Finch and the legal firm of Judkins, Simpson, High & Schulte that represented him at trial filing suit against Liberty County.

According to court documents, the county contends that any reimbursement of fees would be controlled by Liberty County Resolution 09-2 which caps the hourly rate for such fees at $150 per hour. However, that resolution is derived from the county’s obligation to defend the sheriff against civil liability, not criminal action. Judge
Fitzpatrick determined it was not applicable.

Judge Fitzpatrick also stated there was no agreement in place limiting the county’s liability to $100,000 as was argued.

Furthermore, Judge Fitzpatrick ruled that the hourly rate of $425 charged by Finch’s attorneys was reasonable under the circumstances, along with the number of hours spent on the case. Costs, other than $634 for the sheriff’s travel expenses, were also considered reasonable.

The judge ruled in favor of Sheriff Finch and his attorneys awarding $162,966.25 in fees, $6125.90 in costs, less $15,000 raised at a fundraiser, for a total of $154,092.15. Interest of $8021.24 was added bringing the grand total to $162,113.39. Until the bill is paid, Judge Fitzpatrick said interest will accrue at 4.75%.
Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry
No Trackbacks
Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)
No comments
Add Comment
E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.
 
   
 
Submitted comments will be subject to moderation before being displayed.
 

Comments

anon about Apalachicola River named most endangered in U.S.
Thu, Aug 11, 2016 - 12:30 PM
This is so true and the bouyies are all knocked around and barely detectable to which is the shallow side or the d [...]
L about OBITUARY - Owens
Tue, Aug 09, 2016 - 01:32 PM
May the memories you have of "HAZEL" warm your heart with joy and laughter as you reminisce about her life. We've [...]
Howard Boyd about OBITUARY - Pittman
Wed, Aug 03, 2016 - 11:23 AM
I am so sorry to hear of Dick's passing. I will always remember him for his the way he always seemed to care about [...]
Karen Bryant about Who will be running the ambulance service? County Commission receives letter from Hospital CEO regarding EMS
Sun, Jul 31, 2016 - 08:49 AM
I called the new ambulance service since the big turnover. I live in Clarksville which is 12 miles from Blountstow [...]
Anonymous about Apalachicola River named most endangered in U.S.
Thu, Jul 14, 2016 - 04:39 PM
"with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ mismanagement exacerbating the problem.” I just felt that needed to be [...]

Archives

  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • Recent...
  • Older...

Recent Stories

Glenn Eugene Griffin
Friday, February 15 2019
Richards becomes Altha’s 42nd State Medalist
Thursday, February 14 2019
Lady Tigers set to face Paxton in Regionals
Thursday, February 14 2019
Altha Public School Participated in Florida’s Celebrate Literacy Week
Thursday, February 14 2019
Locals reign over Chipola Homecoming
Thursday, February 14 2019

Keyword Tags

5k
Altha
arrest
BHS
BPD
CCSO
Commissioners
cross-country
drugs
election
Farm Family
FHP
football
IFAS
JCSO
news
school board
troop
volleyball
waste
  • Copyright Notice
  • Terms Of Use
  • Privacy Policy
Powered by s9y & Optional Necessity • Admin