Dallas County School Board of Education (DCBOE) member Carolyn Bates presented an affidavit to the rest of the board members Tuesday night concerning legal action that is related to Bates.

This comes after Bates delivered a resolution to the board at their meeting on Sept. 13.

The affidavit and resolution both regard a case that Bates claims was a request for action against her from the board on July 6, 2017.

According to the resolution that was signed on July 6, 2017, that spoke about the action against Bates, the Department of Examiners of Public Accountants issued a report on the Dallas County Board of Education on June 30, 2017, covering the period of Oct. 1, 2015, through Sept. 30, 2016.

“… whereby the Examiners included a finding (2016-001) that a board member, to-wit: Carolyn Bates, elected to represent DCBOE School District 3, failed to comply with residence requirements for county board members, as set out in Code of Alabama 1975, Section 16-8-1(b),” according to the resolution delivered by the auditor. “Whereas, such finding, if factual and correct, would create a vacancy for DCBOE’s School District 3, as vacancy is created whenever a board member of a county board of education moves his or her domicile from the district he or she represents.

“Whereas in the course of addressing the issue of the board member’s residency, additional information has come to light that has caused the DCBOE to further question whether the board member indeed resides in the district she represents,” according to the resolution. “Whereas, the DCBOE, by majority vote, has accepted the finding of the examiners, to the extent that it believes said board member is not compliant with state residency requirements for county board members … upon accepting the Examiners’ finding insofar as described, the DCBOE wishes to move forward, in accordance with State law, by filling the seat it believes to be vacant … the board member in controversy has indicated she will not resign from the seat, as she asserts she is lawfully serving as the representative for School District 3.

“As long as said member holds the seat in controversy, the DCBOE is prevented from peaceably appointing a new member to fill said vacancy,” according to the resolution. “The State of Alabama has authority under Code of Alabama 1975, Section 6-6-591(a), to commence an action against any person allegedly unlawfully holding public office and the DCBOE therefore believes it to be the best interest of the district to turn this matter over to the State of Alabama, via the local District Attorney’s Office, for further investigation and proceedings.”

The resolution also states that the board requested the District Attorney require Bates to show by what authority she holds the office School District 3 school board member.

Bates said the courts dismissed the case because it was not a board issue, but a tax issue instead, and the resolution she presented was to clear her name.

The affidavit was given to school board attorney Malika Sanders-Fortier for review, and will be discussed at the next meeting.