| Share

National & International

Metro & State

WBHM Seeks News Director
John Archibald: Montgomery and Life are like High School
Kyle Whitmire: No Traction for Jefferson County Bills
Don Dailey: Capitol Journal Update
Cindy Crawford: Magic City Marketplace
Carsen Talks "AAA" And More On Capitol Journal
Poverty on the Rise in Suburbia
Kyle Whitmire: Delay for Alabama Accountability Act?
Capitol Journal Update
Tanya Ott's final day at WBHM
John Archibald
Kyle Whitmire: How was the Collapsed Airport Display Designed?
John Archibald: Unrest at the Jefferson County Commission
Kyle Whitmire: Jefferson County Top Attorney Job Reopens
Healing the Hurt in Hurtsboro
Black School, White School: Teaching The Civil Rights Movement
The Postman's March
I Was Told I Couldn't Be a Feminist Because I'm Black
Hostess to the Civil Rights Movement
1963 Church Bombing Seeks Compensation
John Archibald: Why Jeffco Is Paying Attorney $393K To Do Nothing
Common Core, Part 3: More Writing May Be A Challenge
Common Core, Part 2: Implementation a Challenge
Commissioners Question Decision on County Attorney Jeff Sewell
News Features Archive

B'ham School Board President Arrested, Resigns

Edward Maddox, second from right, presides over a June school board meeting. To his right is Superintendent Craig Witherspoon, whom Maddox tried to fire. The body language of Board member Emmanuel Ford (center) reflects the tone of that and other board meetings. Photo by Dan Carsen.

90.3 WBHM Birmingham, Ala. -- Tuesday morning, Birmingham School Board President Edward Maddox was booked into jail and released a half-hour later on a thousand dollars bail. Tuesday evening, his attorney told reporters Maddox would resign and plead guilty to misdemeanor charges. He's accused of using his position as president of the Woodlawn Neighborhood Association to funnel city money to a charity he founded, Woodlawn Missions and More, and of casting an illegal school-board vote to raise his daughter's salary. His daughter, Melody Alston, is a technology specialist for the district.

The plea to misdemeanor charges means Maddox admits he unwittingly broke the law. The Birmingham News reports a hearing will be held today, Oct. 17, in Jefferson County Circuit Court.

The troubled school system is under a state takeover after an investigation began in April. Maddox was a leader in the slim board majority that fought the state takeover and fired popular superintendent Craig Witherspoon, only to have a judge reinstate him.

- Oct 17, 2012