The director who oversees Mobile County’s 911 dispatch system has been suspended for 90 days without pay following his arrest last month on a DUI charge in Daphne, the Mobile County Communications District’s governing board decided this week.
The MCCD board of directors handed down the discipline against Director Charlie McNichol after a hearing held Monday. Assistant Mobile Police Chief Roy Hodge, who chairs the MCCD board, said McNichol will forfeit pay for the full three-month suspension. Board members also rescinded a pay raise McNichol had received the previous year, pulling it back for a one-year period, and stripped him of the privilege of driving a district-owned vehicle.
“We took the vehicle off the table and absolved ourselves of that liability,” Hodge said of the board’s decision. Board members voted 6-1 to approve the disciplinary package, with member Cynthia Coleman casting the lone dissenting vote.
Hodge said the MCCD’s internal rules call for any employee facing a similar charge to go through a comparable disciplinary hearing, though in most cases the director himself would typically preside. With McNichol sidelined, his responsibilities have been divided between two other MCCD employees while the suspension plays out.
The arrest marks the second alcohol-related incident involving McNichol in roughly two years. In 2019, he pleaded guilty to public intoxication in Spanish Fort after his county-issued vehicle was found stopped along a local highway. That conviction was later waived after he paid court costs, completed a DUI awareness class and stayed free of further charges through last spring. Following that earlier arrest, the MCCD board had suspended his vehicle privileges for 60 days. Hodge drew a distinction between the two cases. “It was a different situation with a public intoxication charge,” he said.
The more recent arrest happened in Daphne, where police say officers found McNichol asleep behind the wheel of his district-issued SUV at around 4 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31. The arrest report does not specify whether he agreed to a breathalyzer test, but officers described his condition as “drunk” at the scene. McNichol posted a $1,000 bond and was released that afternoon. His court date is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 8.
Hodge said McNichol was given the opportunity to address the board directly during an executive session at Monday’s hearing. Despite calling the resulting punishment “major sanctions,” Hodge said he still considers McNichol well suited for the director’s post. “He’s the sixth or seventh director since the board’s inception in 1988,” Hodge said. “In the short time he’s been director, there’s been a transformation under his leadership matched by none. He’s done a good job in that position, and that weighed heavily in my decision.”
The Mobile County Communications District fields 911 calls throughout the county and coordinates dispatch of police, fire and emergency medical responders. The agency also manages radio communications infrastructure used by the county and its municipalities. McNichol joined MCCD in 2013 and was elevated to director in July 2016, after the board terminated his predecessor, Gary Tanner, following an internal investigation into management practices.
When McNichol was hired as director, the board waived a residency requirement tied to the position; he currently lists a Loxley address as his primary residence. Hodge said the rescinded pay raise could eventually be restored after a year has passed, but there are no plans to return McNichol’s driving privileges. “Anything can change, but he created this for himself and the board,” Hodge said. “As it stands, there is no plan to let time pass and give the vehicle back.”
Hodge added that he is not aware of any other alcohol-related incidents involving McNichol beyond the two now on record. In a statement following the board’s decision, McNichol said, “I am thankful that the MCCD Board of Commissioners carefully considered all aspects of the situation and voted to retain me as the Director. I am utilizing this time to work on my health and I am currently in treatment for a personal issue. I am committed to, and looking forward to returning and leading MCCD and serving the citizens of Mobile County.”