City Government · Taylor, Alabama · October 19, 2026

Charged With Theft Over a Handbook Copy: What the Documents Show

This is the full report behind the summons section on the City Government page. It is based on more than 150 pages of documents a Taylor resident gave me: sworn complaints, the court summons, letters, emails and an attorney's invoice. She asked that her name not be published. I have also left out the names of her family members and of the citizens who signed the recall petition. When something is one person's account and not something a document shows, I say so.

Please read the disclaimer at the end of this page. I am not an attorney, and nothing here is legal advice.

The February 3 Meeting

According to the resident's sworn complaints, the Taylor City Council held its regular meeting on February 3, 2026. As at past meetings, papers had been set out on a table for the public. One of them was a copy of the City of Taylor Employee Policy and Procedures Manual.

Near the end of the meeting, the resident asked Mayor Robert Lamb about the City dropping its plan for handling stray animals. Her complaints say the mayor ended the meeting after that exchange. Afterward, she picked up the papers from the public table, including the handbook copy, and went home.

The Next Day: A Police Chief at the Door and a Summons

According to her complaints, on February 4 the acting police chief, Jimmy Hill, came to her home while she was out. When she called him, she says, he told her to return the papers by the end of the business day or face a warrant. She returned them that afternoon with a local news reporter present.

When she did, she was handed a court summons. I have reviewed a copy of it:

Court	Municipal Court of Taylor — Municipality of Taylor v. the resident
Summons / Case No.	26-000000048 / MC26-0001
Charge written on it	“Theft of Property 3rd / Removeable of Gov. Property”
Law cited	Ordinance 2010-3, “which embraces Section 13A-8-5, Code of Alabama 1975”
Signed	2/4/26 by Ann Baxter, signed as “Court Clerk” with “Magistrate” written below
Served	2/4/26, return of service signed by Jimmy Hill, title “Chief”
Printed	Wed Feb 4, 2026, 3:04 PM
Court date	February 12, 2026, 9:00 AM

The charge and the statute don't match

Under Alabama law, Theft of Property in the Third Degree is § 13A-8-4.1: property worth more than $500 but not more than $1,499, a Class D felony. The section the summons cites, § 13A-8-5, is Theft of Property in the Fourth Degree: property worth $500 or less, a Class A misdemeanor. The summons names one offense and cites the statute for another. The property was a printed copy of a city handbook that had been set out for the public.

The charge was for taking a copy of the city's personnel manual from a table set out for the public.

The Charge Was Dismissed

An invoice from the resident's attorney, dated March 4, 2026, includes this billing entry: “Call from City Attorney re: matter dismissed.” The resident paid that bill. I have not seen a court order showing the dismissal.

February 17: Not Allowed to Speak

According to the resident's sworn complaints, she called City Hall on February 13 to ask to be put on the agenda for the February 17 council meeting so she could speak about what had happened. She says City Clerk Sofia Rogers told her a policy required requests 7 days in advance. When she asked for the written policy, she says the clerk eventually said she could not find an approved written policy.

Her complaints say that when she arrived on February 17, she was told she would not be allowed to speak and was handed a form for future requests. They also say that when council members asked about the rule during the meeting, the mayor and clerk said it was city policy but did not say where it came from or who approved it.

How the City Clerk Got the Job

The household's letters state that the Rogers family supported Robert Lamb's campaign for mayor, and that Sofia Rogers became City Clerk after he won. A May 22 letter to the district attorney also states that the attorney the mayor brought in as city attorney in spring 2026 was the Rogers family's private attorney. I have not verified either statement.

Hiring a political supporter is not, by itself, against Alabama law. The Ethics Act's hiring rules deal with family members, not campaign allies. What the law does say is who picks the clerk. Taylor had 2,262 residents at the 2020 census. For cities under 6,000 and for towns, Alabama Code § 11-43-4 says: “the council shall elect a clerk.” The council chooses the clerk, not the mayor. I am looking for the council minutes that show that vote.

Complaints Filed

On March 2, 2026, the resident signed and had notarized complaints to the Alabama Ethics Commission against four City officials: Mayor Robert Lamb, acting Police Chief Jimmy Hill, Magistrate Ann Baxter and City Clerk Sofia Rogers. She filed similar complaints with the City. In May, members of her household wrote to Houston County District Attorney Russ Goodman.

None of the documents I reviewed show any result from these complaints. The resident says that when she went to the Ethics Commission in person in July, she was told it deals mainly with financial matters. That fits the law: the Ethics Act's main use-of-office provision, § 36-25-5(a), is about using an office for personal gain.

The Recall Petition

On April 21, 2026, a petition asking for a recall election for Mayor Lamb was presented to the City Clerk and the City Council. It relies on two sections of the Alabama Code: § 11-44E-168 (recall of elected officials) and § 11-44F-3 (Class 8 mayor-council towns). The petitioners say it had more than the 30% of signatures that section requires. I have not counted or verified the signatures.

No recall election was scheduled. The documents include an email to the City Clerk from an associate counsel at the Alabama League of Municipalities stating: “there is no procedure laid out in Alabama state law for recalling an elected official; the only way to remove an elected official from office is through impeachment.” In a follow-up email to Councilman Kenny Thompson, the League said impeachment can be started by the Attorney General, the district attorney, or five resident taxpayers (Ala. Code §§ 36-11-5 and 36-11-6).

The petitioners disagreed. They wrote to the Secretary of State, filed an Ethics complaint against the City Clerk on July 21, and on September 14 sent the clerk a formal demand saying they may go to court to force an election.

What the statutes say

I read both sections. Chapter 44E applies to Class 5 municipalities that adopt the mayor/commission/city manager form of government (§ 11-44E-1). Chapter 44F applies to a Class 8 municipality “operating under a commission form of government with its members elected at large” that switches to mayor-council after a court finds its at-large system violates the federal Voting Rights Act (§ 11-44F-1). Unless Taylor went through that process, neither chapter appears to reach Taylor. I have not confirmed Taylor's history on this point.

July: The Interim Chief at the House

On June 23, 2026, Mayor Lamb announced at a council meeting that he had named Tim Miller interim police chief.

According to a sworn Ethics complaint and a July 18 cease-and-desist letter from the household, on July 10 Interim Chief Miller drove onto the resident's property, walked into the attached garage where a painter was working, and questioned him about a building permit and whether people were being moved into the garage. The household says he did not knock or contact them first, and that their home security cameras recorded it. I have seen video of the officer in her garage. Their letters say he told the painter there had been a report of un-permitted construction.

On September 14, the household sent a Notice of Claim to the City, Mayor Lamb and Chief Miller. It says they may bring a federal civil rights claim (42 U.S.C. § 1983) for a warrantless entry into the home under the Fourth Amendment, and it asks the City to preserve body-camera footage, dispatch records and other evidence.

Where Things Stand

In the documents I reviewed, I found no outcome on any of the Ethics complaints, no recall election, and no written response from the City to the July 18 letter or the September 14 notices. If the City or any official named here wants to respond, I will publish the response.

What I Am Still Waiting On

Some of what the household has told me cannot be published until it is backed by records. I am waiting on:

• The court's dismissal order in Municipal Court case MC26-0001. So far the only proof of the dismissal is the attorney's billing note.
• Houston County Sheriff's Office reports. The household describes a separate dispute with neighbors, including trespassing on their property that they say deputies responded to on July 26, July 28 and July 30, 2026, and a threat they say was made against a member of the household. I will not publish details until I have the reports.
• City Council minutes showing how the current City Clerk was chosen, under § 11-43-4.

Sources

• Documents provided by the resident (summons, sworn Ethics Commission complaints, City complaints, attorney invoice, League of Municipalities emails, petition cover pages, letters dated May 22, July 18 and September 14, 2026). Personal information has been withheld.
• Ala. Code § 13A-8-4.1 — Theft of Property, Third Degree
• Ala. Code § 13A-8-5 — Theft of Property, Fourth Degree
• Ala. Code § 36-25-5 — Use of office for personal gain
• Ala. Code § 11-43-4 — Council elects the clerk in cities under 6,000 and towns
• Taylor, Alabama — 2020 census population
• Ala. Code § 11-44E-1 and § 11-44F-1 — Which municipalities Chapters 44E and 44F cover

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