S avannah Law Review VOLUME 4 │ NUMBER 1 Regulating Boss Hogg—Citizen Empowerment and Rural Government Accountability Lexye L. Shockley* If we believe a thing to be bad, and if we have a right to prevent it, it is our duty to try to prevent it and to damn the consequences.1 —Lord Milner Abstract This Note proposes a solution to the problem of a private citizen’s lack of power to advance ethics complaints against public officials and employees in rural municipalities. In doing so, it examines the unique position of the small rural town: its lack of resources, potential for conflicts of interest and bias, and the lack of media presence and political pressure. It further discusses issues of standing and evaluates both effective and ineffective methods currently in use, including methods used for incidences of police misconduct. Ultimately, this paper recommends a modified, regional ombudsman 2 program to field, * Juris Doctor, Savannah Law School. 1 Alfred Milner, Chairman, The House of Lords, The House of Lords and Duty (Nov. 26, 1909), in Lord Milner, The Nation and the Empire 401 (3d impression 1913). 2 The concept of the ombudsman started in Europe with the first public sector ombudsman being appointed in 1809 by the Parliament of Sweden. Since then, other legislative bodies have appointed ombudsmen to field citizen complaints in a wide variety of areas. An ombudsman is defined as: “A public official appointed by the legislature to receive and investigate citizen complaints against administrative acts of government.” See The History of the Public Sector Ombudsman, U.S. Ombudsman Ass’n, http://www.usombudsman.org/about/history-of-the-public-sector-ombudsman/ (last visited July 31, 2016). See Infra Appendix A. In the United States, several offices of the federal government, as well as some state departments offer ombudsman offices to assist citizens in their specific areas of government, however, the federal government and most states lack a comprehensive or 225 Savannah Law Review [Vol. 4:1, 2017] investigate, and ultimately act upon substantiated citizen complaints. An ombudsman program could provide an effective and efficient means for a citizen to have a voice without the influence of local political forces, increasing the public’s trust in government, and holding public officials accountable for their actions. I. Introduction Local political conflicts and cronyism often undermine or even prevent citizens from advancing complaints within their communities, creating roadblocks to progress through corruption and inaction. Behind these roadblocks are often local officials similar in many ways to the fictionalized prototype county commissioner Boss Hogg. For those unfamiliar with Boss Hogg, the “Balladeer” of Hazzard County introduces him best: Boss Jefferson Davis Hogg was born on the dirt floor of a sharecropper’s shack, and from there, things kinda went downhill. But everybody has a talent, and Boss has a gift of graft. In a dazzling career in Hazzard County ranging from moonshine to political corruption, Boss has been chased by everything from revenuers, to bloodhounds, to irate husbands. And even if the city cops do spot his license, it really don't matter none, ‘cause Boss changes license plates like he does his underwear, which is every time he goes to town. When it comes to basic cunning, ol' Boss was plumb ate up with it.3 Though fictional and over-stated, many of Boss Hogg’s characteristics are quite common. Boss Hogg was a crooked County Commissioner who would sell his own mother down the river to make a buck. In fact, “he [ran] the County, control[ed] the graft, and own[ed] the Sheriff.”4 This dramatized version of a corrupt official involved in a laundry list of criminal endeavors, although exaggerated on all fronts, illustrates the public perception of small-town politics. This perception is unfortunately grounded in the reality that the local political arena has not only historically involved such character flaws in its leaders, but also continues to do so. Lately, there has been an increase in news reports and blogs highlighting rural government corruption.5 In rural communities across our nation, city and county commissioners, mayors, city managers, and city councils are abusing their often unchecked power.6 This power is often augmented by even unified ombudsman program to process and investigate administrative complaints against elected and appointed officials. 3 The Dukes of Hazzard: Daisy’s Song (CBS television broadcast Feb. 2, 1979) (spoken by Waylon Jennings as “the Balladeer”). 4 Id. 5 While there has been an increase in the number of reports in the media regarding local corruption, the majority of these reports involve serious criminal allegations and ongoing issues in communities that have finally been brought to light. The fact remains, however, that in rural areas, the lack of media attention (without serious allegations) continues to stymy the efforts of rural citizens to expose corruption in their towns. 6 In March of 2014, CNN reported that Hampton, Florida, population of just 477, may be one of the most corrupt cities in the United States citing an audit that found 31 state and federal 226 Regulating Boss Hogg not-uncommon problems — such as conflict of interest, favoritism, and bias— that develop a uniqueness once placed into a rural context, opening the door to abuse of power and unethical practices.7 While there is no common definition for “rural,” the second section of this note will discuss the idea of “rural,” and address common perceptions and misconceptions of “rurality.”8 Part III focuses on several types of ethics violations, current ethics laws, and the importance of accountability and public trust in government. Of particular importance in this section is the effect of bias, favoritism, and conflict of interest due to the unique challenges that the rural environment creates in these areas. Part III will apply rurality to the ethical issues discussed and further highlight the uniqueness of rural communities and the roadblocks that many citizens encounter in redressing ethics violations. The fourth and final sections offer solutions. First, in Part IV, I will analyze some ways that communities are addressing ethics complaints currently, in addition to giving a brief overview at traditional adversarial adjudicative approaches for both civil and criminal complaints. These approaches include ethics committees/boards, mediation, civil and criminal lawsuits, and the most extreme, dissolution or revocation of charter. Finally, in section V, I put forth my proposed solution: a regional Ombudsman program meant to effectively and efficiently address complaints while avoiding the pitfalls and influences that effect existing methods. law violations. Ann O’Neill, Speed Trap City Accused of Corruption, Threatened with Extinction, CNN (Mar. 9, 2014, 9:52 AM), http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/09/us/hampton-florida- corruption/. At the time of the news report, the Mayor of Hampton was in jail for dealing oxycodone, the city had one of the most notorious speed traps in the state, bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the city was facing losing its charter. Id. In a follow-up story on March 31, CNN reported that the city had been spared based on its agreement to address a long list of concerns, which included accounting for misappropriated funds, dissolving the police force, and holding public City Council meetings at regular hours. Ann O’Neill, City Too Corrupt for Florida is Spared, CNN (Mar. 31 2014, 10:47 AM), http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/29/us/hampton-florida-corruption-survival/. See also Allison Gatlin, 6 Police Officers in Calif. Town Arrested, USA Today (Feb. 26, 2014, 3:39 PM), http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/26/police-impound- scheme/5827747 (discussing a situation where six officers in King City, CA, population 13,000, were arrested in an impounding scheme that targeted the poor Latino population, impounding their cars and reselling them when the fees could not be paid. Charges included embezzlement, bribery, and conspiracy, among others. See generally Updated: Southeastern Kentucky Political Corruption; More of a Tradition than a Rarity, The Rural Democrat (Mar. 15, 2008), http://theruraldemocrat.typepad.com/the_rural_democrat/2008/03/ southeastern-ke.html (listing Kentucky public officials accused or convicted of crimes and highlighting political corruption in Kentucky as “[m]ore of a [t]radition than a [r]arity[.]”). While situations such as these may be the exception to the rule, public officials in small towns that act in such a way to draw national media attention to rural corruption perpetuate the public perception that all small-town politicians are corrupt. 7 See infra note 10 8 See infra note 10. 227 Savannah Law Review [Vol. 4:1, 2017] II. Peaceful Pastures or Country Chasm? Ironically, rural America has become viewed by a growing number of Americans as having a higher quality of life not because of what it has, but rather because of what it does not have!9 —Don A. Dillman The dichotomy suggested by this section title highlights the subjective quality of the term “rural.”10 For some, the term evokes images of tidy, two- story houses set amidst green rolling hills, surrounded by a white picket fences and a big red barn in the back. For others, that image is it a tiny, unkempt roadside strip with a few dilapidated stores and an old man in a rocking chair sitting under one of the awnings. Not surprisingly, there are about as many perceptions of “rurality” as there are people.11 A lack of formal definition seems to corroborate this—just like individuals, nearly every governmental organization defines rural in a different way.12 Some programs use population of 50,000 or fewer to define rural.13 Others, such as the Farmers Home Administration, define rural as up to 10,000 people.14 The United States Census bureau interestingly defines “rural” by excluding it from 9 Don A.