In August 2025 the Russell County Board of Supervisors voted to seek the opinion of the Office of Attorney General regarding a waste disposal ordinance with the public service authority.
An ordinance was signed on May 5, 2006 that authorized the Russell County Public Service Authority to collect waste disposal fees. This is despite the fact that the PSA does not collect waste.
Last year several business owners spoke out against the ordinance since they are paying for a service that is not offered. Following their comments, the board voted to seek the opinion of the OAG.
At the time, Russell County Administrator Lonzo Lester said it should take 60 days to receive the opinion. One year and one month later, the county is still waiting, according to board attorney Tyler Starnes.
The Lebanon News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Lester regarding the matter on August 21. Under FOIA regulations, officials have five working days to answer the request.
When nine days had passed without a response, a reminder was sent to Lester. Lester said he forwarded the request to Starnes.
Starnes wrote on September 10, “At this time, Russell County has not received an Opinion, or any documents, from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) regarding the Opinion Request I submitted to them at the direction of the Board of Supervisors pertaining to. This Opinion Request was submitted to the OAG on September 19, 2025, and was confirmed received by a member of their Staff.”
He added, “I have been in discussions with the OAG regarding status updates on this Opinion since. In our latest phone call, which was earlier today, I was assured Russell County would receive the OAG Opinion promptly.”