The Escambia County School Board is set to meet for the first time since one of its board members, who is also a publisher of a local newspaper, was indicated on a variety of charges in a case that is generating national news over whether a local prosecutor is suppressing free speech rights of local journalists.

Sherry Digmon, 72, publisher of The Atmore News, is expected to be at the board’s meeting later today. The School Board’s work session is scheduled for 3:30 p.m., followed with a regular meeting at 4:30 p.m. at the school’s central office building in Atmore.

Digmon faces an impeachment charge in addition to two counts of criminal ethics violation and for violating the state’s grand jury secrecy law related to her dual role as an elected school board member and a newspaper publisher.

Digmon could be the first local school board member impeached in Alabama in 17 years.

“My understanding is she will be there,” said her attorney, Ernest White of Brewton.

But what the board is set to discuss, or even vote on, is unknown. As of Monday night, no agenda had been published to the school’s website. A school board receptionist said it’s likely that an agenda will not be released before the meeting starts.

The board’s meeting last October sparked fireworks and began a series of events that have captured a rare bit of national focus on Escambia County.

The meeting last month focused over the future of the school district’s leadership behind Superintendent Michele McClung. The board voted 4-3 not to renew McClung’s contract on Oct. 12, during a contentious meeting in which District Attorney Steve Billy — who is prosecuting the cases against Digmon — attended and vocalized his support for the renewal of McClung’s contract.

An attorney representing the Escambia County School System denied on Monday AL.com’s request for the board’s reviews of its current and past superintendents.

A few weeks after the meeting, Digmon and Don Fletcher, a reporter at The Atmore News, were indicted on a charge of revealing grand jury secrets. The alleged offense stems from a news report revealing that authorities were investigating the Escambia County School Board’s handling of COVID-19 relief funds. The newspaper’s report was based on an alleged copy of a grand jury subpoena that was left at the publication’s office.

A preliminary hearing into that case is set for 9 a.m. on Dec. 4, before Judge Ben Fuller at the Escambia County Courthouse in Brewton.

White said he plans to argue to have the case dismissed. Billy has not returned repeated calls for comment.

Digmon also faces two counts of ethics violation for using her school board position “for personal gain by selling ads” in the Atmore Magazine and/or Grace Publishing LLC. Digmon reportedly has a financial stake in both entities and received a financial gain in excess of $2,500, which authorities claim is a violation of Alabama ethics law.

Her impeachment case is also going through the court system. The Alabama Association of School Boards (AASB) has confirmed it will back Digmon, calling the impeachment proceedings as “corrupt.”

An impeachment indictment, filed on Oct. 27 and provided to AL.com by White and the AASB accuses Digmon of violating the 11-year-old School Board Governance Improvement Act of 2012 that establishes training requirements, and accountability measures for all local school board members.

Under the indictment, Digmon is accused – among other things – of ignoring “all the positive things” that McClung had accomplished since her hiring in 2021. The indictment also accuses Digmon of not providing a basis for her “No” vote “except to say she was concerned because she had been contacted by employees, which clearly reflected her lack of concern for children,” which Billy claims is also a violation of the 2012 school board law.

The impeachment indictment also accuses Digmon of violating her duty as an elected school board member “by refusing to publish articles which promoted the school system and the superintendent, which were written by a contract writer of the school system.”

Digmon also “never abstained from voting to approve payments to her own business” while serving as a school board member, the indictment reads. McClung, according to the indictment, had previously questioned payments to Digmon’s business, and that Digmon “turned against McClung because she questioned payment made to her business” from the Escambia County School Board.

The AASB has since claimed that Billy is not using the 2012 state law as it was originally intended. That law was adopted at the end of the Great Recession and at a time when school boards were wrestling with contract renewals of school officials amid “horrific budget situations,” Sally Smith, executive director with the AASB, told AL.com earlier this month.