BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
Funeral arrangements are pending for Municipal Court Judge Ben Pool who served 43 years on the bench before retiring last week. Pool passed away in Montgomery Tuesday, Aug. 3, after an illness.
It was health concerns that prompted a phone call to Millbrook Mayor Al Kelley last week, where Judge Pool told Kelley he was asking to retire immediately.
Kelley announced Pool’s retirement at last week’s City Council meeting. A special called meeting is planned to for today, Aug. 4, at 3 p.m. for the Council where Mayor Kelley is expected to make a recommendation on a new judge to fill Pool’s seat. The Council is expected to vote on the recommendation at that meeting. The Elmore/Autauga News will be there to cover the meeting and will report the outcome.
“In our last conversation, Judge Pool said he had enjoyed working with the city. He is going to be missed, he was loved by a lot of people,” Mayor Kelley said.
As the only Judge Millbrook has ever officially known on the bench, Judge Pool was a powerful presence, and well-respected, Kelley said. “It is just hard to imagine him not being in the courtroom.”
Tammy Pugh, Millbrook Court Magistrate, worked with Judge Pool for the past 22 years.
“I would like to say that he has been a wonderful Judge to work with and that I have the utmost respect for him. We are all going miss him, but I am going to miss my ‘Go To person’ when I needed someone to talk to,” Pugh said.
Former City Attorney Art Elsner spoke of his friend at the Council meeting last week, saying that in all the years on the bench, Pool had only missed one court day, and that was when his father passed away. He was a constant presence, a calming voice of reason.
“We at the Police Department are saddened to hear of his passing,” Millbrook Police Chief P.K. Johnson said. “He has done an outstanding job during my tenure here since 1996. He will certainly be missed.”
When the new court department and police department building was constructed 2013, Judge Pool was surprised to learn the courtroom would be named in his honor.
“It really did surprise him, and I think he was pretty proud of it,” Mayor Kelley said.
As you enter the courtroom today, a photo of Judge Pool hangs to the left of the double doors, acknowledging the importance of his tenure.
The Elmore/Autauga News would like to offer our sincere condolences to Judge Pool’s family, and his work family within the Millbrook judicial system.
