Lauderdale County Circuit Court Judge Gil Self was indicted and arrested on 16 counts of using his office for personal gain and one count of perjury, Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office said on Monday.
In October, Self, who’s been on the bench since 2009, told Alabama Daily News “sloppy” bookkeeping during the COVID-19 pandemic was to blame for two state audits that showed more than $146,000 in undocumented or unallowable expenses from two court fee-funded accounts he oversaw.
Marshall’s office on Monday said some of Self’s alleged prohibited activity between early 2020 and February 2023 included using more than $50,000 of public funds to employ his son and the use of public funds for personal purchases such as a sofa, alcoholic beverages and eyeglasses. He’s also accused of reimbursing himself for a variety of vacations, including a ski trip to Montana, a beach trip, a cycling trip across three states and a trip to St. Ignace, Michigan.
Self is charged with 16 counts of using his office for personal gain or the gain of family members, one count of making a false representation to Examiners of Public Accounts and one count of perjury. The perjury charge is related to a false statement Self made to a Lauderdale County grand jury this month, Marshall’s office said.
Much of the alleged misspending was outlined last year in Examiners of Public Accounts audits. He’d also hired his son, a recent college graduate, as a law clerk without proper documentation, ADN previously reported.
Self in October defended many of the expenses but said accounting errors did happen during the chaos of running courts during COVID.
“I agree the proper bookkeeping during COVID was really virtually non-existent,” he previously said. “It was sloppy. We didn’t follow acceptable accounting principles, primarily because there’s no one trained or experienced in those principles here that were in charge of the books during that period of time.”
He also said he’d repaid money for the unallowable expenses found during the audit process.
On Monday, he made similar statements to the TimesDaily in Florence.
“From the first time the auditors brought these issues to my attention, I have acknowledged honest but correctable mistakes were made in the two bank accounts I administered as Presiding Judge,” he told the newspaper. “These mistakes happened over a period of time when our court system was under immense pressure due to the pandemic and being understaffed and overloaded.”
Marshall’s office said that if convicted, Self faces a maximum penalty of 20 years of imprisonment and a $30,000 fine for each of the sixteen B felony charges for violating the ethics law. He faces up to 10 years of imprisonment and a $15,000 fine for making a false statement to the examiners office and for perjury, which are class C felonies
Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, who sits on the Senate’s judiciary and budget committees, commended the investigations.
“I appreciate the Attorney General and the Examiners of Public Accounts making sure no one person is above the law,” Orr told Alabama Daily News. “And holding any individual, who breaches the law, accountable. The public’s trust demands no less.”
The Examiners office regularly audits state and county offices.
“The Department of Examiners of Public Accounts’ duty is to ensure taxpayer money is being spent for its intended purposes,” Chief Examiner Rachel Riddle told ADN on Monday. “The Department’s findings in audits and examinations speak for themselves.
“We take this duty very seriously and will continue to diligently protect public monies. I always encourage anyone who is concerned that their local or state officials are not spending public money for a public purpose to contact our department.”