Atlanta attorney Claud "Tex" McIver has resigned from the Putnam County Development Authority, some eight months after he allegedly murdered his wife and shortly after the authority's attorney resigned in protest over his membership.
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McIver, who owns a ranch in Putnam County, served several years on the development authority before resigning about 10 days ago, said county attorney Barry Fleming.
Last month, a Fulton County grand jury indicted the prominent Atlanta attorney on murder charges in the Sept. 25 death of his wife, Diane McIver, herself a successful businesswoman.
Diane McIver died after her husband shot her while they were riding in a SUV near Piedmont Park. Tex McIver has called the shooting a “tragic accident” that does not warrant criminal charges. He said his revolver went off while he dozed in the backseat of the SUV.
In December, police had initially charged him with misdemeanor reckless conduct and felony involuntary manslaughter. But prosecutors, having performed their own investigation, now assert that Diane McIver’s death was premeditated.
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McIver is currently in the Fulton County jail.
McIver drew criticism for continuing to serve on municipal boards following the incident and criminal charges. In February, after public pressure from several African-American activists, he said he would step down from the state Board of Elections. First appointed by the state Senate in 2005, McIver had been serving as the election board’s vice chairman.
“As all of you must know my beloved wife and life partner, Diane, was lost in a sudden and tragic accident in September,” McIver wrote to the board at the time. “At this time, I feel that I do not have what it takes to continue to serve” on the board.
But McIver continued to serve on the development authority in Putnam County, which is about a 90-minute drive southeast of Atlanta.
Laura Rice Gailey, whose law firm served as counsel to the authority for 15 years, objected to McIver continuing to serve on the board.
“It is improper and against the best interest of the community for anyone currently under indictment by a grand jury for felony offenses to serve on the Putnam Development Authority,” Gailey wrote in a May 4 letter to the authority.
She lamented that county commissioners had not forced him from the post. Fleming, the county attorney, said that while the commission appoints authority members, it does not have the power to remove them. He said the governor would have to do so after an investigation.
Gailey said in her letter, “My conscience requires me to tender my law firm’s resignation as counsel for the Putnam Development Authority at this time in protest of same.”
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