State Senator Don Balfour called me last night while I was out to dinner to say that he is running for reelection and my sources are not real good.
Yesterday, I wrote that unconfirmed rumors suggested Balfour would not run for reelection. Unconfirmed rumors means “a source that’s not very good,” in case there was any confusion that unconfirmed rumors might mean something other than what it sounds like.
As long as we’re discussing Senator Balfour, we will note that the Senator’s lawyer sent a letter to the Georgia Department of Administrative Services seeking reimbursement by the taxpayers of the State of Georgia for nearly $156,800 in legal fees spent to defend Balfour against an 18-count indictment.
Balfour attorney Kenneth Hodges III cited O.C.G.A. § 45-9-1, which allows state public officials to seek reimbursement through the state’s liability insurance for “reasonable legal fees and other expenses incurred in the successful defense of any criminal proceeding … where such action arises out of the performance of his or her official duties.”
The law also states that “legal fees and other expenses shall be subject to adjustment by and the approval of the Attorney General”—who in this case prosecuted Balfour.
A spokeswoman for Georgia AG Sam Olens’ office had no comment on the request letter.
Hodges stated that his firm charged Balfour a flat fee of $75,000 plus $7,093.60 in expenses for the trial, bringing the total cost of litigation to $82,093.60. Hodges reported he and Hill have worked approximately 580 hours to date on Balfour’s case and that their usual hourly rates are $450 and $500, respectively.
The charges include a $15,000 fee for post-trial expenses related to records expungment and pursuit of reimbursement, plus $7,210 for legal research and other work done by a recent law school graduate.
Hodges said in the letter that Joshua Ehrich worked “at a deeply discounted rate to assist with research and working with evidence and witnesses.” According to Ehrich’s LinkedIn page, he was Balfour’s campaign manager and a legal intern to the governor’s executive counsel in 2010. Ehrich is not a member of the State Bar of Georgia and works as a contract attorney with Synergy Legal Staffing in North Carolina.
Awkward.
