The city council of Phenix City decided it needed to investigate the activities of the Phenix City School Board. In October 2010, the city council sent a letter to the board and the school superintendent requesting them to produce certain information and documents. The school board refused. In November 2010, the city council issued a subpoena to the school board and the superintendent. In serving the subpoena, the city council relied on § 9.03 of the city charter which grants subpoena power to any city council committee authorized to investigate an officer of the city or to investigate municipal affairs.
The school board then sued the city council, seeking an injunction prohibiting the council from subpoenaing the board. The Russell County Circuit Court entered a permanent injunction against the city council, which appealed to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals. The appeals court found that the members of the city school board were not city officers, but that the activities of the school board did constitute municipal affairs. Therefore, the subpoena was valid.
Phenix City has adopted a council-manager form of municipal government, pursuant to Act 71 of the Alabama Acts of 1977. The city council appoints the members of the school board to serve 5-year terms, with the term of one member to expire annually. Code of Alabama 1975, § 16-11-3. See City Council of Phenix City v. Phenix City Board of Education, decided September 2, 2011.
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