At their Monday meeting, members of the Alabama Electrical Contractors Board voted not to renew an administrative services contract with Smith Warren Management.
The board is one of 14 occupational licensing boards Smith Warren Management administers. Keith Warren announced in July that he would resign as CEO but remain the company's owner and president.
Smith Warren CFO Kevin Smith told 1819 News that there was a recent “insinuation in a board meeting with the electrical contractor's board and their attorney, and there was an allegation in the conversation about me embezzling money.” Smith said he denies the allegation and is retaining an attorney.
Warren didn’t return a request for comment on Monday. Shon Rogers, Alabama Electrical Contractors Board Vice Chair, also didn’t return a request for comment. It wasn’t immediately clear when Smith Warren’s contract with the board would expire or who would eventually take over managing administrative services for the board.
The Alabama Electrical Contractors Board was one of 25 listed to be consolidated into the Department of Labor under legislation sponsored by State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) that stalled in the Senate during the 2024 session.
A separate bill to continue the existence of the current Alabama Electrical Contractors Board until Oct. 1, 2026, passed the legislature on the final day of the 2024 session.
Elliott said on the last day of the May session, during a conference committee meeting on the bill, “We need to get a handle on this, and it’s my intention to do so next year.”
State Rep. Margie Wilcox (R-Mobile) said during the committee, “Under the workforce development, I’m proud of the sunset committee…that we are continuing the hard work of the individuals that have been doing electrical work and in their local areas.”
“I know that Sen. Elliott looks at it one way, but I look at in not putting these guys out of business that have been at it for 40, 50 years. We need them in the workforce, and we appreciate what they’ve done,” Wilcox said at the May meeting.
Sunset committee hearings made up of legislators who decide whether to continue or alter various occupational licensing boards in Alabama are set to begin on Thursday and last throughout the fall.
“You’ve got a sunset committee that is taking accountability very seriously. I had some real problems with this particular board when it came up. Not necessarily with the board members,” State Sen. Keith Kelley (R-Anniston) said in May during a conference committee about the electrical contractors board bill. “The board members were outstanding, but with the administration and how it was being done. The information that Sen. Elliott referred to was an improper license that had been allowed to go down. They were relying on the advice of administrative counsel that they had. It had been going on for years. My concern for those electrical contractors out there, these are good people that just want to do the work. The board is that way and they’re relying on information. This could have been easily resolved many years ago.”
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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