Almost three years after he was arrested for paying his electric bill in person at the Russellville Utilities office, a Russellville man's case remains pending to determine if he violated the City of Russellville's municipal code section on trespass.
Dwight Jackson, a former Russellville Utilities employee who retired from his meter reader position in 2016, was charged with Criminal Trespass Third Degree on February 10, 2022, after former Russellville Electric Board General Manager Charles Canida signed a criminal complaint against Jackson based on a no trespass order that was served on Jackson in August 2019.
The case is pending in Franklin County Circuit Court, and was assigned to visiting Circuit Judge Glenn Thompson. Jackson's attorney filed a motion to dismiss the case, asserting that Canida and the other managers 'have failed to produce any evidence that they had authority to issue trespass notices on their own' and without prior approval of each utility's board of directors.
That motion was set for hearing Monday, November 18th, by Judge Thompson.
The 2019 trespass order, served on Jackson by the Russellville Police Department, directed Jackson to 'have no contact with any employee of the Russellville Electric Board, Russellville Gas Board and Russellville Water and Sewer Board,' and that he was 'not allowed to enter or be on the property, premises or outbuildings located at 721 Jackson Avenue South, Russellville,' the address for Russellville Utilities' main office.
The no trespass order was signed by the managers of each of three boards.
On February 10, 2022, Jackson, along with a friend who recorded their entry into Russellville Utilities, went and paid his bill without incident. Jackson said he did not see Canida while he was there.
Jackson contends the trespass notice was unlawful because it bans him from a public building where Russellville residents go to pay their utility bills, and that he had not been in the building since he retired, so there was no reason for him to be banned.
Canida alleges Jackson had threatened two former managers, pulled a gun on a co-worker in the Russellville Utilities parking lot and that he brought a live rattlesnake into the office area where employees were working, as well as verbal altercations with a utility employee at a local convenience store.
Jackson says the trespass charge was one of several actions by Canida designed to harass and intimidate Jackson.
When the case came to trial in Russellville Municipal Court, Jackson was found guilty and fined. Jackson was not represented by an attorney at that time.
Jackson appealed the case to Franklin County Circuit Court and hired Tuscumbia attorney Max Wright to represent him.
Wright's motion to dismiss maintains that Canida acted without the authority of the REB in signing a trespass order against Jackson. Although the Court previously indicated board managers could have implied authority to trespass individuals from board property, the Court ordered the three boards to provide to Jackson's attorney 'Board minutes or other documents as may evidence the authority of Board managers to issue the trespass notice served on Jackson.'
Almost a year later, Wright filed a motion to dismiss supported by his assertion he'd received no such evidence from any of the three utility boards.
Additionally, Wright asserts that a document that was provided to him by the REB supports his assertion that Canida acted without legal authority.
That document is an email from Canida to board attorney Jeff Bowling updating him on the Jackson situation.
In that email, Canida wrote: I did speak with the Chief of Police Chris Hargett who agrees that a trespass order should be placed against this individual. If this trespass order is approved Mr. Jackson could simply mail his utility bill each month or set it up to draft electronically.
Wright maintains that email demonstrated that Canida and the other board managers 'require approval to trespass an individual,' prior to doing so. Whether that argument is valid or not will be decided by the Court after the hearing on the motion to dismiss.
At the original trial in Russellville Municipal Court, former City Judge Roger Bedford, Jr., noted his decision to find Jackson guilty did not address the issue of whether the trespass order was valid or not. It was undisputed the order had been served on Jackson, and Bedford found that was sufficient for a conviction.
Jackson, who has never been arrested prior to this case, says there were never any police reports, arrests, suspensions or disciplinary actions taken against him by Canida while he worked for Russellville Utilities.
“If I pulled a gun on a co-worker, I would have been arrested and fired. They have video outside the building. If I had threatened a manager, I would have been fired. That never happened,” Jackson said.
Canida retired from his GM position at the end of October 2024.
The Criminal Trespass case is being prosecuted by Russellville Municipal Prosecutor Eddie Beason. If the Court grants Jackson's motion, the case would be over. If it's denied, the case will be set for a jury trial in 2025.
