Court Opinion

ID: 9727753
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 13:49:37.848909+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:42.391625
License: Public Domain

Shepherd, J.
(concurring). I concur in the result but write separately to emphasize that this holding must be limited to circumstances where the public official was engaged in activities specifically relating to his or her public duties. In situations where the public official is charged with a criminal offense arising out of the exercise of such public duties it would only be an abuse of discretion to refuse to pay attorney fees where the criminal charges are subsequently determined to be without foundation. In this case it would not have been within the normal duties of a city commissioner to *421engage in law enforcement activities. However, he was encouraged to do so by the mayor, who does have a law enforcement function. Therefore, when he met with the individuals named in the majority opinion he was performing duties that were appropriate to his office. When at least one of those individuals falsely accused him of participating in a criminal conspiracy, he was faced with an emergency and had to defend himself and I agree that it was an abuse of discretion for the city to fail to pay his attorney fees once it was finally determined that the charges were false.