Former county attorney appointed to replace Tidwell
KERMIT A former Winkler County Attorney has been named to the position again to fill the void left by former county attorney and convicted felon Scott Tidwell.
Stephen Taliaferro, who held the position from 1982 through 1990, was named Friday by the Winkler County Commissioners’ Court and will serve as an appointed official until the 2012 election. Even before he was appointed, he had said he planned on running in the election, and now plans to run as the incumbent.
“Everybody knows Winkler County has been through some tough times lately and I would like to bring this county back together,” he said. “I think a lot of people are going to be watching us under the magnifying glass, so to speak.
“Everybody refers to it as the ‘good ol’ boys’ that were here before and we’re getting away from that.”
In the past year, three prominent elected officials have left or been forced out of office.
Tidwell and former Sheriff Robert Roberts were convicted of multiple felonies, immediately removing them from office.
Former District Attorney Mike Fostel suffered from years of health problems and was criticized for not being in office enough to fulfill his responsibilities. It even sparked a lawsuit attempting to remove him from office before he resigned.
Taliaferro found himself entangled in that controversy after Fostel said he believed it was Taliaferro who was the driving force behind the lawsuit, despite the official court documents listing Winkler County Hospital board member John Walton as the complainant.
He denied any involvement in the lawsuit besides being Walton’s attorney. Taliaferro said he and Fostel had a falling out as friends during the nurses scandal, which Fostel was originally supposed to prosecute, but fell to then-County Attorney Tidwell.
Taliaferro said there was no controversy during his eight years as the county attorney and he hopes to keep the county on an “even keel” and move forward from the previous controversies.
County Judge Bonnie Leck said she could not comment much on the appointment despite voting in favor of Taliaferro’s appointment along with the commissioners.
“He certainly is qualified, and he lives here,” she said.
No commissioners could be reached Friday.
Tidwell and Roberts were convicted of two counts each of felony retaliation, misuse of information and misdemeanor official oppression in connection with a whistleblowing scandal that ended in the prosecution of two Winkler County nurses, who were absolved of any wrongdoing.
Former hospital administrator Stan Wiley pleaded guilty in March to misdemeanor abuse of official capacity.
Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles is expected to plead guilty Nov. 7 in Winkler County. He also has a pending aggravated perjury charge in Andrews County from the nurses trial.
