The ongoing dispute between the Marshall County Commission and the Personnel Board over a controversial hire could end up in circuit court if the two parties can’t make peace.
Tanya Giroir began working with the Commission as a temporary employee last November. On January 22, the Commission passed a much-debated resolution approving her application for a full-time position as an accountant clerk without the Board’s consent. On January 24, the Board’s attorney, Mallory Brown-Nabors, sent a letter to the commissioners rejecting the resolution and hiring Giroir.
“After careful consideration…the Board has found that Ms. Tanya Giroir's employment as County Commission Account Clerk II was not approved by the Personnel Board and therefore, Ms. Giroir is not considered an employee of this county,” Brown-Nabors stated. “Per the Personnel Board policies and established guidelines, the Board will not proceed with the approval of Ms. Giroir's employment. Furthermore, the Board does not accept the Commission's Resolution Approving the Hiring of Tanya Giroir dated January 22, 2025.”
On January 13, county administrator Ashleigh Bubbett asked the Board to approve hiring Giroir for the clerk position. A motion was made, but it died due to a lack of a second.
Bubbett made the request after the personnel administrator, Christi Kelley, refused to sign Giroir’s notice of personnel transaction form. According to Kelley, discrepancies on Giroir’s resume, discovered during a reference check after she had been offered the position, constituted fraud and disqualified her from working in that or any other position with the County.
Regardless, the Board contended that the Commission had no authority to move forward with the hire without its approval.
“[T]he Board considers the Commission's hiring of Ms. Giroir to be outside of the Commission's authority and contrary to Alabama law pursuant to Ala. Act 82-206,” the Board’s letter stated. “The continued unapproved employment of Ms. Giroir is a violation of the Personnel Board's Policies and Procedures. The Board expects the Commission to adhere to the Board's policies and procedures regarding employment, and failure to do so immediately may result in legal action by the Board.”
Personnel Board letter to the Marshall County Commission
County attorney Clint Maze responded to the Board’s letter on February 13 (see below), claiming the Commission did not consider Giroir’s application issues to be fraud and that it was well within its power to approve her hiring under the County’s handbook provisions and local Act.
Maze said the hiring procedures laid out in the Personnel Board Act were followed, that Giroir’s application was chosen by the county administrator out of the pool of qualified candidates and Giroir was offered and accepted the position. Maze argued that the personnel administrator did not have the authority to undo the decision made by the appointing authority since the alleged fraud did not become an issue until after.
Maze said neither he nor the Commission were provided a written explanation of the fraud allegations, but based on what was said during the January 13 Board meeting, it appeared to be her putting down the wrong dates for her time working with Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government. According to Maze, her application said she worked there from Jan. 1, 2012, through Sept. 9, 2014 — roughly two years and eight months. However, the only dates that were able to be verified were Aug. 27, 2012, through July 19, 2013, which is 10 months and 23 days.
“[T]he allegation that Mrs. Giroir ‘committed fraud’ on her application has passed like wildfire through the County rumor mill and has now become the battle cry of many employees and individuals who have been stirred into ‘concerned citizens’ which extol the virtues of honesty and ask rhetorical questions such as ‘would you want to work with someone dishonest?’” Maze wrote.
He argued that the date error does not meet the legal definition of fraud—a willful or reckless misrepresentation of a “material fact”—and that Giroir told Bubbett during the application process that she was unsure of the exact dates for that position, indicating no “intent to deceive.”
Maze also said Giroir was picked for the job based on her education and proven record as a temporary employee and not on the “equivalent two years experience” clause in the job description.
“There is ample evidence for anyone actually concerned about truth to reasonably conclude that there was no fraud perpetrated by Mrs. Giroir. Further, the only person with standing to assert any alleged fraudulent statement is the Commission or the County Administrator, rather than the Personnel Administrator, any other appointing authority, another County employee, or ‘concerned citizen,’” Maze stated.
He continued in the letter, “There is no provision in the Act or the Handbook which permits the recall of an applicant by the Personnel Administrator once an applicant is submitted to the appointing authority, or to deny the appointing authority from hiring a qualified applicant once the applicant has been submitted to the appointing authority for selection. Similarly, there is no provision in the in the Act or the Handbook, which requires the Board or the Personnel Administrator to ‘approve’ the hiring of an qualified employee, or to enable the Board or the Personnel Administrator to withhold such approval. Because the County Administrator fully complied with the provisions of the Act and the Handbook, the hiring of Mrs. Giroir was valid and in accordance with Alabama law.”
Maze said he welcomed further discussion and “counterpoints” to his arguments in another public meeting. If a compromise or concession can’t be reached between the Commission and the Board, former State Rep. Phil Kelley, who drafted the original Personnel Board Act of 1982, said the next step would be to resolve the matter in the circuit court.
“If I were a board member, I would appeal it to the circuit court and say, ‘Circuit Court, who’s right and who’s wrong? We need a judicial finding on that part of the law,’” Kelley told 1819 News.
The Commission recently approved another resolution requesting the state legislature amend Kelley’s 1982 act to add term limits and adjust board member pay. The amendment would also change the application and hiring process, which some have argued is a direct result of Giroir’s hire.
County Attorney Clint Maze's response letter to Personnel Board
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