By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
PINEVILLE, Mo. — A judge has denied a suit by Noel Marshal Ellsworth “Ozzie” Amos seeking to have the city of Noel pay more than $11,730 in attorney fees and other costs he incurred while successfully defending himself in impeachment proceedings last year.
Bob Evenson, a Pineville attorney who represented Amos, 38, in both the impeachment and the lawsuit, said he received word this week that Judge Gerald McBeth had denied Amos’ petition. Amos filed suit against the city of Noel for his attorney costs on Aug. 30, 2007. He also sought payment of the fees he incurred in filing the civil action.
“We intend to appeal,” Evenson said of McBeth’s ruling.
Amos, whose city marshal post is filled by a vote of the people, first requested that the city pay for his expenses on June 28, 2007 — two days after city officials who favored his ouster were unable to gain the support of a two-thirds majority of the Noel Board of Aldermen to impeach him. Votes by the board of impeachment, composed of the city’s six-member Board of Aldermen, fell short of the necessary majority on all eight of the impeachment charges the board brought against Amos on May 22, 2007. All of the impeachment charges subsequently were dismissed.
After the city refused his request to pay those costs, Amos filed suit.
In the petition, Evenson argued that the city should pay Amos’ costs because it had not conducted the impeachment proceedings properly.
Evenson contended, for example, that witnesses testified during the impeachment without ever being sworn under oath, as required by state law. He also said the city never issued a written decision spelling out facts and conclusions in the case of both the impeachment and its refusal to pay Amos’ fees, as required by state law.
In the petition, Evenson said the city’s denial of payment to Amos was “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable, and involves an abuse of discretion.”
But Erin Willis, a Pineville attorney who represents the city of Noel, countered that Amos was not entitled to attorney fees because his request for payment was not properly presented.
She said the fees could be awarded only if the impeachment proceedings were not substantially justified. She also said the city did not need to issue a written decision since the impeachment vote failed.
A phone message left for Willis on Thursday was not returned. In the answer she filed to the petition, she called the requested fees “egregious and inappropriate.”
Amos still serves as the marshal of Noel, according to the city.
Of the eight articles of impeachment the board filed last year, three alleged that Amos entered into contracts with vendors without board approval. One alleged that Amos used city funds to buy fuel for personal vehicles with a city-issued credit card.
Evenson had argued during the proceedings that the city had no policy or ordinance to regulate the marshal’s spending. The contracts and credit-card bills were approved by the board and paid monthly, he said.
In all, the Board of Aldermen met six times during the impeachment proceedings, beginning April 25, 2007, and ending with the failed vote on June 26, 2007.
A separate controversy arose several months later, when Amos and two deputies were charged with misdemeanor animal abuse after two dogs were found dead in mid-August in a city-owned pen. They had died of starvation and dehydration.
According to testimony at Amos’ court trial in December, the dogs were supposed to be taken to a Neosho animal shelter to be killed on Aug. 1, but they were not, and because of miscommunication, no one realized that they were still at the city pen. Jurors acquitted Amos after deliberating for only 28 minutes.
After his acquittal, the charges against the two deputies were dropped.
By the numbers
Ellsworth “Ozzie” Amos was elected by the people of Noel to a four-year term as city marshal in April 2005. His annual salary is about $24,000.
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