1982 Jefferson County consent decree
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The 1982 Jefferson County consent decree was an agreement entered into by Jefferson County Commission, the City of Birmingham, the Personnel Board of Jefferson County, and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office in order to settle a lawsuit which accused them of violating federal law by practicing racial discrimination in its hiring and personnel decisions.
The suit was brought by the Ensley Branch of the NAACP.
The agreement took effect on December 29, 1982. In 2002 the board was ruled to have been operating in contempt of the decree and placed under direct federal control.
Jefferson County was released from the consent decree by order of Judge Lynwood Smith in December 2020.
References
- "JeffCo files joint motion to be released from longtime consent decree." (September 2, 2020) Birmingham Business Journal
- Rebman, Stephanie (December 21, 2020) "Jefferson County released from consent decree." Birmingham Business Journal