The Marion City Council voted Tuesday night, Jan. 20, to advertise for the positions of municipal court magistrate, municipal judge, and municipal prosecutor. The move comes after more than a year of turnover inside Marion’s municipal court and amid ongoing questions about how key court functions have been handled since the resignation of long-time court clerk and magistrate Kristi Milner.
Resignation and Questions About Court Operations
Milner resigned in October 2024 to take the job as Perry County E-911 director. Several people with knowledge of Marion’s municipal court operations told the Herald they do not believe the court has held sessions since Milner’s departure. People familiar with the Council’s actions in 2024 also do not recall a vote to appoint Laura Hinton as interim magistrate or a vote to formally advertise the vacancy to the public.
Records Show Acting Court Clerk Appointment
While the city has now voted to advertise the positions publicly, records obtained from the Administrative Office of Courts (AOC) show that Laura Hinton, Marion’s city clerk/treasurer and the sister-in-law of Mayor Dexter Hinton, took an oath on April 8, 2025, as “acting court clerk.”
She subsequently began the magistrate certification program in the summer of 2025. According to the AOC’s response, Hinton completed five of the six required classes, with the final regional seminar still outstanding and available in March, April, or May 2026.
Public Records Request Submitted
The Times-Standard-Herald requested records from the City of Marion on Dec. 2, seeking, among other items:
- Milner’s resignation letter
- Any minutes or records reflecting official action accepting the resignation or declaring the magistrate position vacant
- Any job postings or advertisements for the magistrate position
- Any documents formally appointing or recognizing Laura Hinton in a municipal court role
The request also sought salary records and pay history sufficient to determine whether compensation was paid for municipal court duties, along with court dockets or calendars showing when court was scheduled, held, cancelled, or continued.
City Response and Delay in Records Production
On Dec. 19, Laura Williams-Hinton acknowledged receipt of the open records request in an email to the Herald and Mayor Dexter Hinton, stating that the city’s “year-end operational and audit preparation period” would push production into the next calendar year.
She wrote that the city anticipated an updated status and estimated production timeframe in mid-January 2026. As of press time, Wednesday, January 28, the city had not produced the requested records.
Prior Controversy Involving City Officials
The records request comes against the backdrop of prior controversy involving the same officials. In 2022, the Perry County Herald reported that Mayor Dexter Hinton circulated an email asking council members to approve a raise for the city clerk “outside of an open meeting.”
The email requested that members send a letter or email supporting the proposal and suggested the mayor would attempt to implement it without bringing it to the council table if attorneys approved that approach. Such a move, according to people familiar with the situation at the time, would have been in direct violation of Alabama’s Open Meetings Law.
Recent Council Action and Lack of Court Sessions
In the weeks since the Times-Standard-Herald submitted its Dec. 2 records request seeking documentation on how Marion’s municipal court positions were handled after Milner’s resignation, the city has moved to publicly advertise the magistrate, judge, and prosecutor positions.
Multiple sources told the Times-Standard-Herald that the council’s decision to advertise now is the first clear public step they have seen toward formally filling the positions since the earlier resignations. The city has reportedly not held municipal court since Milner’s October 2024 departure.
Open Meetings Law and Outstanding Requests
State law requires that the deliberative process of governmental bodies be open to the public during meetings, with limited exceptions.
The Times-Standard-Herald has requested minutes, personnel records, and other documentation necessary to determine what official actions were taken, by whom, and when, with respect to the municipal court vacancies and appointments, as well as the court’s schedule and compensation records tied to the court offices. The city has yet to provide responses to those requests.
