Kennon Ethics Complaint Hearing Pulled From Oct. 7 Agenda, Likely Moved to December

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon will not go before the Alabama Ethics Commission on Wednesday, Oct. 7, as had been expected, delaying a closely watched step in the Kennon ethics complaint brought by three members of the city council.

Alabama Ethics Commission Executive Director Thomas Albritton said Tuesday afternoon that Kennon was not “on the agenda for tomorrow.” The mayor had been slated to appear to address allegations that he threatened three city councilors in April and that he has used his public office for personal benefit.

Kennon did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon, and other city officials also did not immediately respond. Kennon has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

A hearing moved — probably to December

Kennon had been placed on the commission’s October agenda and received a 45-day notice of the hearing in August. Under state law, he had the option of requesting a 30-day extension, which would push his appearance to the commission’s last meeting of the year on Dec. 2, 2026.

The commission also appears to have relocated that Dec. 2 meeting from the RSA Union Building to the Folsom Building at 64 Union Street in Montgomery. The meeting notice states that it will not be livestreamed, a departure from the commission’s usual practice.

Whether Kennon’s case has in fact been moved to December has not been officially confirmed. Asked to confirm whether his Oct. 7 hearing had been shifted to Dec. 2, a spokesperson for the commission’s office said he could not “verbally” confirm what was on the agenda. The office also said the agenda was not a public record and that it could take up to two weeks for the agency to confirm what had been on any commission meeting agenda.

The complaint

City Councilors Ginger Harrelson, Robert Stuart and Jeff Silvers filed the ethics complaint against Kennon in May.

According to the complaint, Kennon threatened the councilors and attempted to use his office to keep body camera footage from Labor Day 2024 from being released. Among other claims, the councilors alleged that he directly tried to block the public release of that footage. He also allegedly threatened political persecution and legal action if the council tried to make the footage public as part of an effort to settle an ongoing federal lawsuit seeking its release. That lawsuit was filed by a Mississippi-licensed attorney.

The complaint makes several additional claims:

• Several high-ranking city officials knew of the Labor Day 2024 incident within about a day.
• Regular crime reports presented to the City Council did not initially reflect the 911 call and police response that night.
• Building security footage that could possibly have shown the incident was not preserved.

City Clerk Renee Eberly confirmed in mid-2025 that video footage from that night did not exist.

The Labor Day 2024 incident

The footage at the center of the complaint stems from a domestic violence call to the city’s Coastal Resources Building after midnight on Labor Day 2024.

It was first reported last July that Kennon was initially found inside the building after a 911 call reported a “butt naked” man yelling and beating a woman on the balcony of an office. A copy of the police body camera footage shows Kennon speaking to officers from behind an office door.

Kennon has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, though he eventually acknowledged that he was in the Coastal Resources Building at the time.

Both the Baldwin County District Attorney’s Office and the Alabama Attorney General’s Office have reportedly declined to investigate the incident itself. The ethics complaint now before the commission concerns the mayor’s alleged conduct as a public official — including the alleged threats and the alleged efforts to keep the footage from the public.

Timeline at a glance

• Labor Day 2024: Police respond after midnight to a 911 call at the city’s Coastal Resources Building; body camera footage shows Kennon speaking to officers from behind an office door.
• Mid-2025: City Clerk Renee Eberly confirms that building video footage from that night does not exist.
• April 2026: The mayor allegedly threatens three councilors, according to their complaint.
• May 2026: Councilors Harrelson, Stuart and Silvers file their ethics complaint.
• August 2026: Kennon receives a 45-day notice of a hearing before the Ethics Commission.
• Oct. 7, 2026: Kennon is no longer on the agenda for the commission’s meeting, according to its executive director.
• November 2026: The original 180-day review deadline arrives, though an extension is considered likely.
• Dec. 2, 2026: The commission’s final meeting of the year, set for the Folsom Building in Montgomery.

How the Ethics Commission works

The Alabama Ethics Commission was created under the state’s ethics law in the 1970s to administer and enforce the rules governing the conduct of public officials and public employees. Among its duties, the commission receives and investigates complaints, issues advisory opinions, and oversees the financial disclosure statements that many officials are required to file each year.

When a complaint is filed, commission staff investigate. The matter can then come before the commission itself, which decides whether there is probable cause to believe a violation occurred. A probable cause finding is not a conviction or a final judgment; it is a determination that enough evidence exists to send the matter to prosecutors for possible legal action.

State law spells out what happens in that case:

“If the commission finds probable cause that a person covered by this chapter has violated it or that the person covered by the Fair Campaign Practices Act has violated that act, the case and the commission’s findings shall be forwarded to the district attorney for the jurisdiction in which the alleged acts occurred or to the Attorney General. The case, along with the commission’s findings, shall be referred for appropriate legal action.”

The clock on the complaint

Under state law, the commission has 180 days from the date a complaint is filed to review it and make a recommendation to either the local district attorney’s office or the Alabama Attorney General’s Office.

At the request of its director, the commission may vote to extend that window by another 180 days “to complete the investigation.”

For the complaint against Kennon, the original 180-day deadline falls in November. Because the mayor’s hearing has been moved, an extension is likely, which would place the deadline for a decision in May.

If the commission fails to make a recommendation by the deadline, the complaint is dismissed and cannot be refiled on the same set of facts. That makes the timing of the hearing — and any extension — significant for everyone involved.

Why it matters for Orange Beach

Orange Beach is one of the best-known beach communities on the Alabama Gulf Coast, a tourism-driven city in southern Baldwin County that draws large numbers of visitors each year. Kennon has served as its mayor for many years.

The dispute has opened an unusual public rift between the mayor and members of the council. Three sitting councilors taking an ethics complaint against their own mayor to a state agency is a rare step, and the allegations — touching on public records, transparency and the use of public office — go to questions of trust that matter to residents regardless of how the case is resolved.

The issue of the body camera footage has also played out in federal court, where the lawsuit seeking its release remains pending. The complaint alleges that the mayor’s threats were aimed in part at the council’s attempts to resolve that case by making the footage public.

Questions about transparency

The handling of the Oct. 7 agenda has itself raised questions. Commission meetings in Alabama are generally subject to the state’s Open Meetings Act, and the public typically learns what a government body will consider through its posted agenda. In this case, the commission’s office said its agenda was not a public record and that confirming what had been on the agenda could take as long as two weeks.

Combined with the decision not to livestream the Dec. 2 meeting and the change in its location, the commission’s approach is likely to draw attention from those following the case closely, including residents of Orange Beach.

What’s next

If Kennon’s hearing has been moved to the commission’s Dec. 2 meeting, it would take place at the Folsom Building in Montgomery without a livestream. An extension of the 180-day review period would allow the commission to act as late as May.

At the hearing, the commission will consider whether there is probable cause to believe the mayor violated the state ethics law. If it finds probable cause, the matter would be forwarded to the Baldwin County District Attorney or the Alabama Attorney General for appropriate legal action. If it does not, or if the deadline passes without a recommendation, the complaint would not move forward.

Until then, the allegations remain unproven, and Kennon continues to deny wrongdoing.