The Supreme Court of Alabama declined on Friday to rehear a lawsuit involving alleged self-dealing among trustees overseeing a scholarship fund for needy children created by former Alabama Secretary of State Mabel Amos.
Montgomery County Circuit Judge Greg Griffin appointed a special master to the case in November, but the Alabama Supreme Court overruled the appointment in May and sent the case back to Griffin.
Allen Dodd, an appointed Deputy Alabama Attorney General, said in a hearing in Montgomery County Circuit Court in July that the state, the fund's board members and the trust fund's trustee Regions Bank recently settled the case. The fund's board members are John Bell, Drew McNeese and Alabama Ethics Commission executive director Tom Albritton.
However, Griffin has yet to approve the settlement. On August 8, he appointed a temporary special fiduciary to audit and investigate the finances of the Mabel Amos Trust Fund. A hearing on the appointment is scheduled for September.
Griffin said in his order appointing a special fiduciary on August 8, "There are several bases for this decision. First, it is impossible to determine at this point the extent of the trustees' breaches of duty, as only the tip of an apparent iceberg of impropriety can be seen."
Associate Justice Brady Mendheim said in a unanimous opinion released in May, "In summary, the circuit court's order referring all matters in these cases to a special master exceeded its discretion."
"As to the referral of the matters to be tried without a jury, the circuit court did not indicate that an "exceptional condition" necessitated the referral," Mendheim said.
The Mabel Amos Trust Fund is worth about $8.2 million, primarily due to oil and gas wells being on its property in South Alabama. The fund's purpose is "to fund or to provide scholarships for deserving young men and women of this State [Alabama]…to assist them in attending any educational institution."
A Ls c Meagan Carmack by Caleb Taylor on Scribd
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