Jackson's charges expunged

Escambia County (Ala.) School Board Member Cindy Jackson's arrest for revealing grand jury secrets were earlier dismissed and now Jackson's record has been expunged, meaning there is no record of her arrest in court files.

Jackson, along with school board member Sherry Digmon, school board employee Ashley Fore and Atmore News reporter Don Fletcher were arrested and charged with revealing secrets grand jury information. Digmon was also charged with an ethics violation for using her position on the school board for personal gain.

Circuit Judge C. Robert Montgomery issued the order to dismiss the case with prejudice against Jackson which was filed April 29, 2024, in the Escambia County Circuit Clerk's office.

On Sept. 23, Jackson filed a motion to have her charged expunged.

Charges against Digmon, Fore and Fletcher have also been dismissed.

On Sept. 30, Circuit Judge Ben Fuller filed an order giving the state 21 days to file a written response in opposition of the expungement and said if no response was filed Jackson's records would be expunged. No response came and Jackson's arrest was deleted from the court files.

"I want to thank those who have continued their support of me, and for their unquestioned belief in my innocence throughout the legal battle against me personally, which has lasted more than one year," Jackson said. "I am glad to report that the felony charges, which were filed against me by Escambia County District Attorney Steve Billy, which led to my unlawful arrest, were fully dismissed by the State Attorney General's Office and the courts of Alabama, with prejudice, on April 24, 2024."

"Additionally, as of Friday, Oct. 24, 2024, my felony arrest record has been expunged by the state of Alabama, so the false charges and unlawful arrest have been removed from my personal record," Jackson added. "A hard-learned lesson that I have learned through this unbelievable ordeal is that innocent citizens are treated no differently than the criminals they are accused to be."

"Even though I have never served on an Escambia County grand jury, I was indicted and arrested for illegally revealing grand jury evidence."

Jackson noted that in a system where people are innocent until proven guilty, "I was presumed to be guilty, not innocent".

"Although all charges against me were dismissed by the attorney general and Alabama judicial courts, I still had to pay all the expenses to have the false charges removed from my personal records as if I had been found guilty and been sentenced."