Outside Attorneys to Review Ethics Complaint Against Megan Barry

The mayoral sex scandal prompting multiple investigations into the possible misuse of public funds is about to generate a lot of billable hours for outside attorneys. 

Metro Department of Law director Jon Cooper tells the Scene that his department has retained outside counsel to review an ethics complaint filed against Mayor Megan Barry last week. The Metro Code gives the Department of Law 14 days to review complaints before submitting a recommendation to the Council Board of Ethical Conduct. 

"While we do not see a direct conflict of interest, the Department of Law made the decision to retain outside counsel to review the ethics complaint and make a recommendation to the Board in order to avoid any appearance of bias," Cooper says. 

The complaint questions whether the mayor could be be an "honest broker" between the community and the police department, given her extramarital affair with Sgt. Rob Forrest, the former head of her security detail. For Metro lawyers, the unfolding scandal not only involves a superior, the mayor, but also, tangentially at least, a colleague — Forrest's daughter, Macy Amos, is a lawyer who got a job in the department with the mayor's recommendation.

Cooper says the department has retained Kevin Klein and former Metro law director Saul Solomon to review the complaint. 

Members of the Metro Council committee created to investigate the mayor's conduct declined to comment on their plans, deferring to Vice Mayor David Briley's request that they refrain from speaking about the investigation outside of committee meetings. But Pith hears they're likely to retain outside counsel as a part of their investigation, which will also include work from the Metro auditor Mark Swann. An independent attorney would be able to advise the committee and interview witnesses if that's deemed necessary. 

The special committee will meet for the first time tomorrow. 

In a letter naming the committee members, Briley encouraged them to obtain outside counsel but asked them to "please consider the financial costs of any decision you make before you act."