Why Columbus Council voted to pay city employee’s legal fees after investigation
The Columbus Council voted Tuesday to pay the attorney’s fees for the Columbus Consolidated Government’s human resources director.
The council voted 6-4 to approve the payment of $37,705 to the Robbins Law Firm of Atlanta and the reimbursement of $5,000 to CCG human resources director Reather Hollowell for payments she made to Robbins Law Firm.
Voting yes were Mayor Pro Tem Gary Allen of District 6 , Travis Chambers of citywide District 10, Joanne Cogle of District 7, Charmaine Crabb of District 5, Walker Garrett of District 8 and Bruce Huff of District 3. Voting no were John Anker of citywide District 9, Glenn Davis of District 2 Byron Hickey of District 1 and Toyia Tucker of District 4.
These fees are in reference to legal services provided to Hollowell in connection with a recent the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office investigation, according to the meeting’s agenda. The MCSO has been investigating CCG’s finance department since January 2024.
Hollowell’s position had been listed in a letter from a local prosecutor describing an investigation into potential criminal conduct by CCG employees, the Ledger-Enquirer reported in August. But she hasn’t been charged.
The MCSO released its administrative report about the investigation last month. It recommended criminal charges against six officials, but the Towaliga Circuit District Attorney’s Office — which is prosecuting the cases after Chattahoochee Circuit DA Don Kelly recused himself — filed charges against only two of them:
- CCG finance director Angelica Alexander for a charge of obstructing a law enforcement officer (misdemeanor). Her initial court appearance is scheduled July 25.
- Former CCG revenue manager Yvonne Ivey on two counts of simple battery (misdemeanor). Her charges were dismissed Monday because the two-year statute of limitations has expired.
Investigation background
Councilors during the summer of 2023 requested a finance department audit after hearing reports that business and alcoholic beverage license collections were backlogged, and that the revenue office was in disarray, with unopened mail and other documents piling up.
The CCG internal auditor’s report in December 2023 estimated $45.1 million in revenue was missing, but attorney Charlie Peeler of the Atlanta firm Troutman Pepper gave an estimate of $20.1 million to $26.9 million, in the time span of Jan. 1, 2016, through September 2023. But the backlog came to only $2.5 million from about 500 delinquent accounts, Alexander told the council then.
The MCSO probe began in January 2024 after Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson requested an investigation following the release of city manager Isaiah Hugley’s personal information from the CCG finance department.
Why pay for Hollowell’s legal fees?
During the council’s meeting Tuesday, City Attorney Clifton Fay said the payment of these fees is required under appellate court decisions.
Crabb asked whether there were boundaries within the law. Fay responded, “Only when the official acting in their official capacity is required to hire outside counsel to assert a legal position that obviously the local city attorneys cannot assert, and when the official is successful in asserting his or her position, a local government must pay a local official’s attorney’s fees when you have those two circumstances.”
After an initial inconclusive vote on the resolution, Garrett explained why he voted in favor of the resolution.
Garrett said the amount of the bills is “ridiculous” and argued to pay the attorney’s fees to protect the taxpayer.
“There’s no way for us to go back and audit the amount of time they spend on emails and calls and all the different things,” Garrett said.
“We’re going to spend much more trying to appeal this, much more. It is not fair to our taxpayers, just to draw a line in the sand, when there’s an appellate law in this issue,” Garrett said.
Davis called the fees “highway robbery” and a “rip-off to the citizens.”
Anker made a substitute motion to pay the $5,000 in out-of-pocket fees while delaying the approval of the remainder of the bill. The council’s vote was stalemated in a 5-5 tie and broken when Henderson voted against the substitute motion.
The council then voted on Crabb’s motion to reconsider the original resolution and pay the fees, which was approved by a 6-4 vote.
Hollowell’s lawyer responds
Asked for his reaction to the council’s decision, Chuck Boring, Hollowell’s lawyer, told the Ledger-Enquirer, “I think that anyone who would dig in and look at the invoices, look at the work done over almost 10 months would see these are more than reasonable fees to protect somebody against an unauthorized and inappropriate investigation by a sheriff who was politically motivated.”
Boring said he thinks his firm averaged about six hours of work per month on this case.
“I can tell you I’m sure I worked more than that on it, but that is all I billed,” Boring said.
He said his firm also took a reduced rate from their normal rate in Atlanta to represent Hollowell.
“We were successful in the end, made sure that justice was done, and no charges were brought against her,” Boring said.
This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 2:43 PM.