Andrews taps Brown as new town attorney

    Andrews – The Andrews Board of Aldermen unanimously voted last week to appoint a full-time town attorney.
    Darryl Brown, who also serves as the attorney for Cherokee County and the sheriff’s office, will serve as attorney for the Town of Andrews at a pay rate of $200 per hour with a guaranteed minimum of 10 hours per month.
    Any time more than 10 hours in a month will be charged a $175 hourly rate. The aldermen would have to waive any conflict of interest or acquire alternate counsel if a clash in representation arises between Cherokee County and the town.
    The town also agreed to provide Brown up to $300 per year to obtain publications or educational materials related to representing the town. The town must also pay for lodging, parking and fees for Brown to attend state-sponsored conferences regarding municipal
government.
    The town has been without a full-time attorney since December 2017, when the board of aldermen unanimously voted to remove Ellen Davis and appoint Leo Phillips as interim town attorney.
    “Leo did a great job, but it was time to come up with a permanent replacement,” Mayor James Reid said. “I’m pleased with the board’s decision to go with Darryl Brown.”
    The board appointed Brown at the town meeting on Oct. 1. Since Phillips was an interim appointment, lawmakers did not have to take action to terminate his services.
    Brown is a criminal defense attorney who graduated from Murphy High School in 1985. He received his bachelor of arts from the University of North Carolina in Asheville and received his juris doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
    He previously served as an assistant district attorney for the 29th and 30th prosecutorial districts in North Carolina.