{"id":5007,"date":"2026-08-21T16:07:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T16:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007"},"modified":"2026-08-21T16:07:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T16:07:27","slug":"chapin-council-changes-could-be-invalid-says-attorney-hired-by-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007","title":{"rendered":"Chapin council changes could be invalid, says attorney hired by mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>An attorney hired by Chapin\u2019s mayor challenged whether a flurry of changes the town council has passed are valid, even as council members approved a measure that means he may not represent the town going forward.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5006\">Prince Harry and others ordered to pay millions over failed lawsuit<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Bubba Samuels was hired by Chapin Mayor Bill Mitchell to give legal advice to the town for employment and utility matters, but the other four members of Chapin Town Council say they were unaware of that until a few weeks ago. Council members before Thursday\u2019s meeting claim to have never met the Buford, Georgia,-based attorney before he appeared to defend his hiring at a specially-called town council Thursday.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>This week\u2019s meeting was the latest in a back-and-forth between the mayor elected last year and the rest of the town council who have voted no confidence in his leadership of the town, called on him to resign and pushed through a slew of measures to wrest more oversight of the town, over the mayor\u2019s strenuous objections.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s clear you need some legal advice and counsel,\u201d Samuels told council members after observing much of the three-hour meeting at town hall. \u201cYou need a town attorney to advise you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the intent of one measure the town council passed Thursday, to make the town attorney a post that reports to the council and not the mayor. Council members complained the mayor has withheld information about legal challenges facing the town and made decisions \u2014 like hiring an attorney \u2014 without their knowledge.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Mitchell, who was the only vote against the measure, contends he is empowered to make hiring, firing and spending decisions on his own as long as he operates within the town budget. Now, an attorney in theory would report to the council as a whole and would work with two designated council members in addition to the mayor.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Samuels, who drove three hours from his Georgia law office on 24 hours\u2019 notice to be at Thursday\u2019s meeting, told council he believed that measure violated the mayor\u2019s authority under Chapin\u2019s \u201cstrong mayor\u201d form of government.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe respective duties and obligations of the mayor and council are set out in statute,\u201d Samuels said. \u201cThey have been analyzed over and over by the courts. The chief executive officer has to be in a position to work with the lawyers of the town.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>But many council members questioned Samuels\u2019 ability to represent the town while living and working out of state. Many point out his law license was listed as \u201cinactive\u201d by the state bar association until recently. Samuels blamed that on changes to the mutual recognition of licenses between Georgia and South Carolina and has since been corrected, he said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Council members also publicly questioned Samuels about a previous disciplinary action from the bar association. He said while serving as a county attorney, he inadvertently took a call from a magistrate judge about a case he was involved in separately from his work with the county. He said he self-reported the violation to the bar, and the incident taught him to be more careful in how he represents local governments.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>He told council members, who may now decide if he remains the town\u2019s attorney, that he would still like to use that experience to help them in what appeared to be an impromptu job interview.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know why you want to,\u201d Mitchell told the attorney at one point. \u201cMany would not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5004\">A bin store along a busy Midlands road has closed its doors. What to know<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Samuels said his practice works with many municipalities \u201cwhose governing body is dysfunctional.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Council members agreed they needed legal advice on how to handle pressing town concerns, including potential litigation with Lexington County over whether the town will provide sewer service to a new development outside of town that Chapin leaders oppose.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know what litigation is being discussed or what meetings are happening,\u201d said Councilwoman Ainslee Bost. \u201cOur constituents ask us questions about it and we don\u2019t know, so we look like fools.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Discussion about lawyers was only one item the council majority approved over Mitchell\u2019s objections Thursday, including other changes to how town council agendas are set and who can call council meetings. One measure introduced at the meeting would require a town council member to co-sign any spending decisions made by the mayor or a town department head.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not to say we think anything is going wrong or anyone\u2019s doing anything bad,\u201d Bost said at the meeting. \u201cThis is about providing oversight&#8230; so there\u2019s a third party who is objective because they are not working here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Mitchell said before those motions passed that he would like to refer the motions to the S.C. Municipal Association or the attorney general\u2019s office for an opinion on their legality, but the council pushed through the measures in 4-1 votes. Mitchell reiterated a previous threat to challenge the council\u2019s motions in court, which would create the possibility of a mayor suing his own town.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Speaking to The State after the meting, Mitchell said he would \u201cput on pause\u201d any legal action to see if he and the council members can improve their working relationship moving forward, and said Thursday\u2019s meeting had actually helped put them on the same page.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201dWhat\u2019s on display here is the raw reality of a brand new municipal council in place, a brand new mayor and two new council members,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cAnd that is quite difficult to manage for all of us and painful for that to be on display while we\u2019re working through it. But my desire is to be transparent, albeit I don\u2019t want to put unelected people out in public like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>He acknowledged his council colleagues will now decide on the town\u2019s attorney, but said he hoped they would decide to retain Samuels in that role.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe took a six-hour round trip to be here and answer questions,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cHis heart for municipalities is quite impressive&#8230; we struck gold with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The last motion passed Thursday was to ask the Municipal Association to provide training for all members of town council on their responsibilities. Mitchell suggested that training should take place at a future public meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5002\">Weather alert active for South Carolina Friday morning \u2013 wind gusts reaching 55 mph<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chapin town attorney challenges recent council measures that limit the mayor\u2019s powers while council votes to shift legal oversight and approve other changes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chapin council changes could be invalid, says attorney hired by mayor - US Moving Experts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chapin council changes could be invalid, says attorney hired by mayor - US Moving Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chapin town attorney challenges recent council measures that limit the mayor\u2019s powers while council votes to shift legal oversight and approve other changes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"US Moving Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-21T16:07:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=5007#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=5007\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\"},\"headline\":\"Chapin council changes could be invalid, says attorney hired by mayor\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-21T16:07:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=5007\"},\"wordCount\":1089,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=5007#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/871ebaf54fd3def468ff463b87576ac5.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=5007#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=5007\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=5007\",\"name\":\"Chapin council changes could be invalid, says attorney hired by mayor - US Moving Experts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=5007#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=5007#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/871ebaf54fd3def468ff463b87576ac5.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-21T16:07:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=5007#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=5007\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=5007#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/871ebaf54fd3def468ff463b87576ac5.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/871ebaf54fd3def468ff463b87576ac5.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=5007#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chapin council changes could be invalid, says attorney hired by mayor\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"US Moving Experts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chapin council changes could be invalid, says attorney hired by mayor - US Moving Experts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chapin council changes could be invalid, says attorney hired by mayor - US Moving Experts","og_description":"Chapin town attorney challenges recent council measures that limit the mayor\u2019s powers while council votes to shift legal oversight and approve other changes.","og_url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007","og_site_name":"US Moving Experts","article_published_time":"2026-08-21T16:07:27+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6"},"headline":"Chapin council changes could be invalid, says attorney hired by mayor","datePublished":"2026-08-21T16:07:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007"},"wordCount":1089,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/871ebaf54fd3def468ff463b87576ac5.jpg","articleSection":["Local"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007","url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007","name":"Chapin council changes could be invalid, says attorney hired by mayor - US Moving Experts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/871ebaf54fd3def468ff463b87576ac5.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-21T16:07:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/871ebaf54fd3def468ff463b87576ac5.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/871ebaf54fd3def468ff463b87576ac5.jpg","width":1200,"height":675},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=5007#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chapin council changes could be invalid, says attorney hired by mayor"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/","name":"US Moving Experts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com"],"url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}