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Judge elaborates on recusal Circuit Judge Stuart DuBose verbally recused himself from hearing a property tax appeals case filed by Boise White Paper, LLC against the Clarke County Board of Equalization at a hearing on the matter April 2 and followed up with a written recusal the next day, April 3. The other local circuit judge, Judge Thomas Baxter, was assigned the case effective May 1. Judge DuBose's recusal of April 3 was short and to the point: "In order to avoid the appearance of any impropriety, the undersigned judge does hereby recuse himself from any further proceedings in this matter." Last Thursday, June 14, Judge DuBose filed a document that elaborated on his recusal. For some background, Boise had differed with the Clarke County and State of Alabama appraisal department's assessment on parts of its Jackson paper mill operation and appealed to the equalization board to have the assessments reduced. The citizen board upheld the assessments and Boise filed an appeal in circuit court. Judge DuBose was assigned the case but at the April 2 hearing that included county commissioners- including his mother, County Commissioner Patricia DuBose- and school board representatives he said he had not thought of the implications of those receiving Boise tax Continued from front dollars. "I had not thought of it that way," he said then. "Now I don't have any choice but to think of it that way. The Clarke County Commission has an interest...and to avoid any impropriety, this court will recuse itself from this case." In recent meetings, the county commission and the county school board both lamented the fact that Boise's entire $1 million-plus tax bill remains in limbo until the matter is resolved. The lack of the revenue is crimping both the county and the school system, officials were quoted in last week's paper as saying as they asked about the status of the case. Judge DuBose's document of June 14 does not mention his mother but does detail a relationship with Circuit Clerk Jay Duke and other "circumstances" as reasons for his recusal. The full text of the order reads: "The undersigned, having recused himself from the within cause for the only purpose of avoiding the appearance of impropriety, due to the fact that the attorney for the Clarke County Commission was present in court and questioned by the Court, and further, seated at the table of the counsel for the Board of Equalization was the incumbent Circuit Clerk, who technically works for the undersigned, and because the Clarke County Commissioners were required by the Board of Equalization, i.e. Chris Beverly, through Lois Morris, to be present at the hearing: All of which were unknown to the undersigned until the date of the hearing: It was all of the circumstances on that specific date only that necessitated the recusal of the undersigned. "Consequently, the undersigned does hereby request the Honorable Judge Thomas Baxter be assigned to this case and does further urge for a prompt setting for ultimate resolution." It should be noted that Judge Baxter had already been assigned the case, effective, May 1. Circuit Clerk Duke was revenue commissioner when the assessments were first challenged but was later elected to the clerk's post. Chris Beverly, a tax appraiser when the matter first came up, was appointed revenue commissioner to fill Duke's vacancy in January. Lois Morris was the assistant county administrator at the time but has since been named administrator.
Judge Baxter has not set a date for a new hearing on the case.
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