Indictments handed down last week by a Cullman County Grand Jury accuse four-term elected Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail of 15 separate felony counts of using his office for personal gain, according to documents obtained by The Times.
Nail, who has served as Hanceville’s mayor since first winning office in 2008, was booked into the Cullman County Detention Center on Tuesday. He posted a $150,000 property bond — $10,000 for each of the 15 alleged offenses — and was released.
Attempts to reach Nail by phone and text message on Tuesday and Wednesday were unsuccessful.
In August, the Alabama Ethics Commission declined taking administrative action on a local complaint of allegedly improper in-office conduct that previously had been filed against Nail, opting instead to refer the materials related to the complaint to the Cullman County District Attorney’s Office. The DA’s office presented its case based on those materials to the grand jury last week, leading to Nail’s multi-count indictment.
All 15 of the indictment charges are the same: Use of office for personal gain, a Class B felony. Prison penalties for a single Class B felony conviction in Alabama can range from two to 20 years. Each Class B felony conviction also carries a potential maximum fine of $30,000.
Among other charges, the indictments accuse Nail of instructing city employees — including former police chief Bob Long and former officer Josh Howell, who now serves as police chief — to perform work at Nail’s residence for Nail’s personal benefit while each officer was on duty.
Count 1 of the indictment typifies those accusations in the case of Nail’s alleged interactions with both officers, stating that Nail, “did intentionally solicit a public employee or public official, to-wit: Former City of Hanceville Police Chief Bob Long, to use or cause to be used equipment, facilities, time, materials, human labor, or other public property under Long’s discretion or control, to-wit: equipment, time, materials, or human labor by routinely soliciting former Hanceville police chief Bob Long to perform work on Nail’s residence while Long was on duty as police chief, for Nail’s private benefit and to materially affect Nail’s financial interests.”
A similar indictment count also accuses Nail of soliciting city employee Steve Gunn to travel to Haleyville in a city-owned vehicle “to pick up lumber and other supplies and to haul the materials on Nail’s trailer to Nail’s residence, while [Gunn was] on duty as a city employee.”
Five of the indictment counts accuse Nail of “routinely causing” three former area inmates — each of who was allegedly “under Mayor Nail’s direct or indirect discretion or control,” to perform work at Nail’s residence while they were in custody. An additional count accuses Nail of directing one of the inmates to perform similar work, while in custody, at a Hanceville residence owned by a third party.
In a statement shared with media outlets on Tuesday, District Attorney Champ Crocker said, “I am limited on what I, as the prosecutor can say about this particular case due to the Rules of Professional Conduct.
“However, as a matter of public policy and good government — elected officials are entrusted to perform their duties honestly and above reproach. When that bond of trust is broken, our society suffers limitless harm.
“Anyone with information regarding corrupt practices by public officials is encouraged to contact the Alabama Ethics Commission or the Alabama Attorney General’s Office.
“My office — working with our state partners — is committed to ensuring that the violators of the public trust be held accountable under the law.”
Nail will have the opportunity to enter a plea on each charge at his arraignment, which is scheduled for Dec. 1.