Lauderdale County judge charged with misuse of office, perjury pleads not guilty
LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — Court records show longtime Lauderdale County Circuit Judge Gil Self charged with perjury and misuse of his office has entered a not guilty plea.
Self, 61, of Florence is charged with 16 counts of using his office for personal gain and a related perjury charge and making a false representation to the auditor’s charge.
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According to court records, Self entered the not guilty plea on Monday. Now, the court says it will set a pretrial conference.
Most of the charges relate to accusations that while he was presiding judge from April 2020 to February 2023, Self used court system money for travel and and personal items. He’s also accused of spending $50,000 to hire his son for a law library job in Lauderdale County without approval.
The indictment on the perjury charge claims Self lied to a grand jury about receiving approval to hire his son for a law library job.
Following his January arrest Self issued a statement saying he made honest but correctable mistakes using two court bank accounts he supervised. You can read the full statement here.
This month, the court rejected a claim by Self’s attorneys that the perjury charge he is facing is ‘unclear.’
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Self’s lawyers argued the indictment failed to clearly describe what he did wrong and asked for a “more definite statement.” The defense asked prosecutors from the Alabama Attorney General’s Office to provide what part of his testimony was false, who gave the approval for the hiring, and how his conduct violated the law.
Prosecutors said that was all spelled out to the defense in the charges and evidence it turned over to Self’s lawyers.
Judge Tim Jolley denied Self’s claims during a hearing on April 2.
Judge Self has only been indicted, not convicted. He is not allowed to serve as a judge while under indictment, according to state law, but he still holds his position and he’s still receiving his salary every two weeks. State records show he’s been paid $29,000 overall, since his indictment in late January.
No future hearing dates are set at the time this article was posted in Self’s case.
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