County court rules Tuscaloosa Councilman eligible for re-election

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Eddie Pugh Tuscaloosa

A Tuscaloosa circuit court judge on Monday ruled Tuscaloosa City Councilman Eddie Pugh eligible to run for re-election next month.

Previously, the City of Tuscaloosa had said Pugh failed to qualify for re-election due to a bounced check. Pugh had mistakenly used a check from a closed account to pay his $200 qualifying fee.

Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Jim Roberts ruled the returned check was not a good enough reason to disqualify the incumbent councilman.

“If an individual were to buy a pizza with a worthless check, eat the pizza and then, a few days later, the check were to bounce, the pizza is not and cannot be returned to the restaurant and therefore, the agreement to sell and purchase pizza is not revoked or voided,” Roberts wrote in his ruling.

“If a candidate were to file the appropriate paperwork and pay the qualifying fee by check on the last day of qualifying, the candidate would be included on the ballot and deemed to have qualified even though the actual money for the qualifying fee would not be received by the city for several days after the qualifying period ended.”

Pugh will face Alan “AJ” Johnson in the District 6 city council race in the March 7 municipal election.