Year in Review (No. 1) Hanceville mayor resigns amid charges he used his position for personal gain

Published 12:15 am Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Since 2008, Hanceville voters have sent Kenneth Nail to city hall as the victor in four successive mayoral elections that became increasingly uncontested with every four-year interval that passed between them. Now, the city is without its longtime mayor in the wake of Nail’s December resignation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges that he used his position for personal gain.

Nail’s 15-year stint as Hanceville’s mayor came to an end on Dec. 19, the date he appeared before presiding Cullman Circuit Judge Gregory Nicholas and agreed to plead guilty on the 15 counts, read a brief letter of apology in court and submitted his letter of resignation to the Hanceville City Council. The council subsequently accepted his resignation, leaving the city’s leadership — at least for now — in the hands of councilmember Jimmy Sawyer, whom the council previously had designated to serve as mayor pro tempore.

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As for Nail himself, the Hanceville native and retired Cullman police officer offered only sparse remarks after leaving court for the final time last month, but flatly stated he won’t take part in politics or even work on a municipal payroll again.

“After today,” he said, “my days in public service have pretty much come to an end.”

The probationary terms of Nail’s plea agreement indeed stipulate that he not seek elected office or be employed in government service for a period of 15 years. Under the agreement, Nail also was ordered to pay a total of $6,500 in combined fines and restitution, to carry out 120 hours of community service, and to spend a year under an unsupervised probation that will keep him from serving jail time so long as he fulfills the rest of the terms of his plea deal.

Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker brought Nail’s case to a local Grand Jury in October, after the Alabama Ethics Commission declined to take administrative action on an earlier complaint against Nail and instead referred the matter for local prosecution. The complaint accused the former mayor of improperly using inmate labor, as well as his relationship with the former Hanceville police chief and other city employees, to carry out work away from their public service roles that benefitted Nail personally.

The Grand Jury initially returned 15 Class B felony indictments — counts that each, upon conviction, could have carried prison terms ranging from two to 20 years, along with potential maximum fines of $30,000 per offense. After Nail pleaded not guilty to all 15 of the charges at an early-December arraignment, both sides eventually reached an agreement that stepped all the charges down to misdemeanors in exchange for Nail’s guilty plea.

Hanceville’s city council held its first meeting without Nail as mayor on Dec. 28, making only brief and administratively expedient references to the matter as it removed Nail’s name from all city accounts and revoked his signatory authority as a city representative. Councilmember Jimmie Nuss expressed “regret” at seconding the motion that accepted Nail’s resignation and formally severed his ties to the Hanceville mayor’s seat; fellow councilmember Patty Dean, Nail’s sister, was not present at the meeting.

Under Alabama statute, the council must appoint a replacement to carry out the remainder of Nail’s term sometime within the 60-day window that dates from his resignation of the mayor’s seat. The mayor’s race will feature in the city’s next election cycle, which comes in 2024.