STATE OF ALABAMA

OTTIcg OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

50'

LUTHER STRANGE
ATTORNEYGENERAL

\A/A.SHINGTON AVENUE
P.O. BOX300t52

MONTGOMERY, AL 36'3O-o'52
1334t 242"7300

W.AGO.AUBAMA.GQV

MEMORANDUM

TO:

All Employees

FROM: Luther Strange, Attorney General

DATE: December LL,2O!4

RE:

Sonny Reagan

The purpose of this memorandum is to clarify the circumstances regarding my removal of Henry T.
("Sonny") Reagan from his appointed position, my decision to seek the termination of his employment
with the Office of Attorney General, and Mr. Reagan's ultimate resignation.
Shortly after this Office opened an investigation into Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard, I recused
myself and appointed Supernumerary District Attorney W. Van Davis to handle the case. A special grand
jury was ultimately empanelled in Lee County to conduct an investigation. To date, that investigation
has resulted in the conviction of former State Representative Greg Wren and the indictment of two
other legislators, Rep. Barry Moore and Speaker Hubbard.
During his employment with this Office, Mr. Reagan forged relationships with persons, outside the
Office of Attorney General, who had an interest in undermining the Lee County Special Grand Jury's
investigation. ln October, it was alleged that Mr. Reagan had engaged in misconduct related to the
Special Grand Jury, and I removed him from his appointed position as a Deputy Attorney General,
pending investigation into those matters. ln November, after considering all the evidence, including Mr.
Regan's response, I notified Mr. Reagan that I intended to terminate him from his Merit System position
with the Office. On December2,2O!4,laccepted Mr. Reagan's resignation in lieu of termination.
While working as a prosecutor in this Office, Mr. Reagan shared legal counsel with the indicted criminal
defendant, Rep. Moore. Moreover, the representations of Mr. Reagan and Rep. Moore were both
related to the Lee County Special Grand Jury. By sharing legal counsel with Moore on the subject of the
Grand Jury's investigation, Mr. Reagan created an irreconcilable conflict of interests. Mr. Reagan's
duties of loyalty and confidentiality to the State of Alabama and to the Office were compromised by his
own personal interest in undermining the grand jury's investigation - an interest he shared with the
defendant Moore and his defense team.

December 1L,20L4
Page Two

Additionally, Mr. Reagan shared legal counsel with Speaker Hubbard, who was the subject of the grand
jury's investigation. The representation of Mr. Reagan by Speaker Hubbard's attorney was, likewise,
related to the Lee County Special Grand Jury. By sharing legal counsel with the subject of the grand
jury's investigation, Mr. Reagan again created a situation in which his duties of loyalty and
confidentiality to the State of Alabama and to the Office with respect to the Hubbard investigation,
conflicted with and were compromised by his own personal interests.

While he was sharing legal counsel with the indicted defendant Moore and Speaker Hubbard, Mr.
Reagan was privy to confidential inter-office communications involving fellow prosecutors, investigators
and staff members relating to the Lee County Special Grand Jury. For months, Mr. Reagan took part in
inter-office conversations related to the Special Grand Jury, all the while concealing his simultaneous
representation by the criminal defense team. By doing so, Mr. Reagan not only breached his duty of
loyalty to the State of Alabama, but he also violated the trust of you, his colleagues.
Moreover, while he was secretly sharing legal counsel with the indicted defendant Moore, Mr. Reagan
took action in his official capacity as a prosecutor that related to the Moore case, writing memos to staff
and conducting business that related to the Moore prosecution. Mr. Reagan's failure to recognize his
own conflict of interests in that situation and to police his own actions was a betrayal of the duty of

loyalty that he owed the State of Alabama and this Office. Mr. Reagan's lack of candor with his
colleagues and his attempt to undermine their prosecutorial efforts was, likewise, a betrayal of their
trust, and yours.
To be clear, my decision to terminate Mr. Reagan's employment was based solely upon the fact that Mr.
Reagan breached his duty

of loyalty to the State of Alabama and this Office, failed to safeguard the

confidences of the Office, and violated the trust of his colleagues, all in violation of the policies of this
Office and the Rules of the State Personnel Board. Mr. Reagan's conduct fell far short of the high
standard of honesty, integrity, and professionalism that the people of the State of Alabama have a right

to expect of employees of this Office, and that you have come to expect from your coworkers.

to serve with the competence

and dedication that the people of Alabama expect and deserve. I have every confidence in the integrity
and professionalism of Acting Attorney General Davis. I am also absolutely certain that the members of
the Special Prosecutions Division have conducted themselves with a high level of professionalism and
will continue to do so. Any employee of this Office that has any questions or issues relating to the Lee
As disappointing as this incident has been, I know our Office will continue

County Special Grand Jury should contact Acting Attorney General Davis.