By Katie Northcott, News Director
On Wednesday, April 8, Coffee County Mayor Dennis Hunt provided local media with a memo from County Attorney Mark Williams where Williams said he will not file an ouster suit against County Commissioner Joe Mike Hodge.
On May 13, 2025, the Coffee County Commission voted to request that Williams investigate whether Hodge should be ousted from office. It was alleged that Hodge sought to remove documents from Hunt’s office with the help of Hunt’s administrative assistant.
Find more reporting on the vote here.
Hodge later accused Hunt and Coffee County Sheriff Chad Partin of failing to comply with open records requests filed in February 2025.
Find reporting on Hodge’s petition here.
At the March 2026 meeting of the County Commission, Commissioner Tim Brown requested that the commission vote on whether to oust Hodge.
“This investigation has gone on for an unreasonable amount of time, and I think we need to put an end to it tonight,” Brown said. “We either need to oust him tonight or dismiss it.”
Brown’s motion failed. Williams was overseas at time of the March 2026 meeting.
Find reporting on the March 2026 discussion here.
Williams said in his April 8, 2026, memo that only the Attorney General, District Attorney General, County Attorney, or a city attorney may bring an ouster suit, and it would be inappropriate for the commission to vote on the ouster.
“Inasmuch as no ouster suit has been filed against Commissioner Hodge, it would seem to me that the lack of an ouster suit being filed would lead to the logical conclusion that one was not going to be brought,” Williams said in his memo.
He said Hunt had requested Williams write a memo to resolve any questions and to promote transparency.
Williams said that an ouster suit may be brought if county officials committed knowing or willful misconduct in office, knowing or willful neglect of duties required by law, voluntary intoxication in a public place, illegal gambling, or any act violating any penal statute involving moral turpitude.
Williams’ investigation involved determining whether Hodge had committed knowing or willful misconduct in office or any act violating a penal statute involving moral turpitude.
Around the time Williams began his investigation, Coffee County District Attorney General Craig Northcott told Thunder Radio News that he informed Partin and Hunt that there was no criminal wrongdoing to investigate. In his memo, Williams said Northcott’s statement eliminated the possibility of bringing an ouster suit against Hodge for any act violating a penal statute involving moral turpitude.
Upon further analysis, Williams also determined that Hodge had not committed knowing or willful misconduct in office.
“Certainly, if the planned removal of the documents had occurred, it would have been both willful and considered by many to be misconduct, and would most likely constitute reasonable cause,” Williams said in his memo. “It was not clear to me though that the actions taken by Commissioner Hodge up to the point the effort was discovered would rise to the level articulated by the Courts to justify his removal from office.”
Williams said he did not believe an ouster suit would be worthwhile due to the cost to the county and the distraction from the “effective operation of the Commission.”
Find the full memo available for download below.
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