Doolen vs Herron Settled
Hardeman County Sheriff John Doolen has settled his malpractice suit against the late Roy Herron of Dresden, putting to rest one more loose end of the salary suit that began in 2019 in Hardeman County.
In the summer of 2021, Hardeman County Sheriff John Doolen filed a $2 million lawsuit against former counsel Roy Herron of Dresden, saying Herron, who passed away in 2023, along with Nancy C. Miller-Herron, Herron Law Offices, Peter J. Alliman, III, and White, Carson, & Alliman Attorneys at Law, damaged Sheriff Doolen.
Filed by Eugene N. Bulso, Jr. of Bulso, PLC of Brentwood, the suit says the defendants “owed Sheriff Doolen a duty to comply with the standard of care required of attorneys licensed to practice law in the State of Tennessee.”
Herron defended Doolen in the case that began following the passage of the 2019-2020 budget.
The suit detailed witness testimony that was excluded due to numerous procedural issues which resulted in the dismissal of expert witnesses.
As part of the eventual settlement of the original case, Doolen was promised by the Hardeman County Commission that if he were to sue Herron at some point, the county would be responsible for the legal fees for the case.
The terms of the settlement between Doolen and Herron were not disclosed. Doolen, when contacted, neither confirmed nor denied a settlement was reached in the case.
Following the passing of the 2019-2020 budget, Hardeman County Sheriff John Doolen sued for more support in July of 2019. He was represented by Roy Herron for the next sixteen months.
Over the next year and a half, Herron’s fees went from $175,000 in October of 2019 to almost one million dollars ($962,911.41) in the fall of 2020, which was more than double all the other attorneys combined. Chancellor Tony Childress amended Herron’s request down to $366,175.
In February 2021, Doolen fired Herron, eventually hiring Attorney Steve Hale of Bolivar to represent him.
Herron, a longtime Tennessee state lawmaker and former chairperson of the state Democratic Party, died July 9 from injuries sustained in a jet ski accident on July 1 of this year. He was 69.