A lawsuit alleging workplace corruption at the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office appears to be proceeding to discovery, with a judge setting a due date for a joint discovery plan.
The due date, as well as a scheduling conference, was announced last Thursday, September 12. While the joint discovery plan is due next Tuesday, September 24, a scheduling conference before Eastern District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds will be held in two weeks, at 3:00 p.m. on October 1.
Former St. Clair County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Scott Jones filed the suit July 30, with the county and sheriff responding to the complaint on Thursday, August 22.
According to Jones’ complaint, the suit stems from the November 2022 OWI arrest of Marcus King, a St. Clair County Sheriff’s deputy and the brother of Sheriff Mat King. The former officer says he was pressured into retirement by his superiors, including Sheriff King, a little over a month after the 2022 arrest, after bringing his concerns about the sheriff’s actions to the county’s Human Resources Department.
Jones is seeking over $75,000 in damages and court costs, as well as a judgment declaring his First Amendment rights were violated by the sheriff and county.
Sheriff King and the county are asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed “with prejudice and [for the Court] to enter a judgment of no cause of action”, so Jones would be unable to pursue further action against them on the matter. They are also asking for costs and attorney fees.
