Jimmy Macon v. Shelby County Government Civil Service Merit Board and Shelby County Sheriff's Department

This is an appeal from an administrative hearing on a termination. The plaintiff was a deputy jailer with the sheriff’s department. He was arrested and charged with, inter alia, driving under the influence. The subsequent internal investigation by the sheriff’s department revealed that, prior to his hire, the deputy jailer had pled guilty to a felony drug charge. The conviction was expunged. On the plaintiff’s later application for employment with the sheriff’s department and on the background check form, the plaintiff was asked whether he had had any arrests or convictions, including any that had been expunged. The plaintiff answered that he had none. After the internal investigation, the deputy jailer was terminated for violating sheriff’s department regulations governing personal conduct, adherence to law, and truthfulness. The deputy jailer appealed his termination to the civil service merit review board which upheld the termination based on violation of the truthfulness regulation. This was appealed to the trial court, which ultimately upheld the termination as well. From this order, the deputy jailer now appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence before the board and arguing that the board’s failure to include conclusions of law precludes adequate judicial review. We affirm, finding that the evidence is substantial and material; that the sheriff’s department and the civil service board properly considered the expunged conviction; and that the board’s failure to include conclusions of law in its decision does not preclude adequate judicial review in this case.