Attorney General Alleges Ethics Commission Director Tom Albritton Improperly Benefited From Scholarship Trust

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall alleged in a civil filing Tuesday that Alabama Ethics Commission Executive Director Tom Albritton improperly benefited from the Mabel Amos Memorial Scholarship Trust, where Albritton served as a trustee. According to the filing, Albritton’s children received more than $100,000 from the trust.

The allegations have not been proven in court. A response from Albritton to the filing was not available.

Special fiduciary’s report

A report by Special Fiduciary Jim White is particularly critical of payments made to children of people closely connected to the Albritton law firm, including Albritton himself. According to the report, his son and daughter received a combined $135,000 in scholarships.

The payments to his children began in 2012, three years before he was chosen to lead the Alabama Ethics Commission, and continued until 2019, four years after he took the job, according to the report.

The report alleges that self-dealing took place and cites violations of three articles of the fund’s founding documents.

“Disbursements on behalf of students appear to violate Article V, part E and F as it relates to personal inurement and self-dealing. Particularly, when scholarships are awarded to the children of the members of the Board and associates of the members of the Board. There were several scholarships awarded by the Trust that fit into that category and totaled $257,844,” the report states.

Earlier complaints

The trust has been the subject of earlier complaints. In 2021, an ethics complaint was filed against the Ethics Commission, and a bar complaint was filed against Albritton over the trust.

A petition for a writ of mandamus was also filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court. It sought an order requiring the Ethics Commission to review three complaints that Albritton had disposed of without investigation. The petition was based on the allegation that Albritton had engaged in self-dealing as a trustee of the scholarship fund.

Issue in the 2022 campaign

In 2022, Baldwin County attorney Harry Still, a Republican, ran for attorney general against Marshall, the Republican incumbent. Still made numerous campaign speeches about the Ethics Commission, the Mabel Amos trust and Albritton’s activities.

Albritton remains director of the Ethics Commission.