Spencer Collier

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Former Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, who resigned amid a scandal, has reached a settlement agreement to end a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by his one-time law enforcement secretary who had publicly accused the governor of having an affair with an aide, lawyers confirmed Thursday.

Former Law Enforcement Secretary Spencer Collier sued Bentley in 2016 arguing the governor wrongfully fired him and then tried to discredit him with statements and a sham state investigation accusing him of misusing office resources.

A lawsuit filed against former Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley by his one-time law enforcement secretary is currently set to go to trial next March.

Court records show Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin set a March 4 trial date for the case.

Former ALEA Secretary Spencer Collier contends Bentley wrongfully fired him and then tried to discredit him with a sham state investigation. Collier also accuses Bentley of interfering in law enforcement business.

Bentley argues Collier was dismissed "for cause."

After a several-month hiatus, the House Judiciary Committee is once again meeting to discuss the possible impeachment of Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley.

The committee is scheduled to meet later this morning to discuss a procedural question related to the probe. It is the first meeting since the investigation was put on hold by outgoing Attorney General Luther Strange in November.

The committee is tasked with making a recommendation to the full House of Representatives on whether there are grounds to impeach Governor Bentley.

Former Alabama Law Enforcement Secretary Spencer Collier now has a new job title: Police Chief of Selma.

Selma Mayor Darrio Melton announced the appointment yesterday. He released a statement saying Collier's "expertise in law enforcement will benefit our city and help move us forward."

Collier and Melton served together in the House of Representatives. Collier is also a former state homeland security director and a former Alabama state trooper.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Robert Bentley says the governor's former political adviser — whose relationship with the governor became part of an impeachment probe is not returning to the administration.

Bentley spokeswoman Yasamie August issued the clarification today after Bentley became testy when a reporter asked if Rebekah Caldwell Mason was returning to the administration.

A grand jury clears former Law Enforcement Secretary Spencer Collier of wrongdoing.

The attorney general's office announced today that a grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing by Collier and is closing the investigation requested by Gov. Robert Bentley's administration.

Bentley fired Collier in March saying a review found possible misuse of funds. The findings were sent to the attorney general's office.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley is fighting back as the legislative committee trying to impeach him is attempting to subpoena lots of documents from the governor’s administration.

On Monday, Bentley’s lawyer Ross Garber filed an objection with the House Judiciary Committee to subpoenas they had issued for various documents. Garber says the legislative committee does not have subpoena power and is seeking a large amount of documents that “go far beyond any legitimate inquiry”.

An internal investigation by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is criticizing its former chief's attendance and management.

Gov. Robert Bentley included the report in his filing with an impeachment committee last week. It was former agency head Spencer Collier's accusations that helped launched the impeachment probe against Bentley.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley says a newly-formed task force is having success in combating rural crime, such as the theft of farm animals and equipment.

Bentley joined officials with the Agriculture Rural Crime Unit Thursday at a news conference at a cattle farm near Montgomery. Since June, agents with the newly-formed unit have made 14 felony arrests and have recovered more than a half million dollars in stolen property.

Alabama Law Enforcement Secretary Spencer Collier says the new unit is part of an initiative to consolidate state law enforcement efforts.

An Alabama House committee has passed a bill that will allow school systems to hire trained resource officers to provide security in their schools and for the school system to pay for the cost of training and hiring the officers.

The director of Alabama's Department of Homeland Security, Spencer Collier, said it's a way of insuring that Alabama student are safe when at school.

"To get people trained as police officers is the best way to make sure schools are safe," Collier said.

Alabama's secretary of law enforcement has prepared a plan for preventing and responding to active shooters.

Secretary Spencer Collier says law enforcement can't predict when a person intends to kill several people, but they can be trained and prepared to decrease a potential shooter's chances of executing the crime.

Alabama's governor has promoted his homeland security director, Spencer Collier, to secretary of law enforcement.

Collier will lead the creation of the new Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency. The agency is the result of a new state law combining many of Alabama's law enforcement programs, including the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Homeland Security.

Some state employees and vendors who do business with the state are being notified that their personal information was accessed when hackers infiltrated a state computer system.

The state Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that it was making the notifications, but wouldn't say how many state employees or vendors were affected. The department says the hackers accessed personal information such as names, Social Security numbers and taxpayer identification numbers, but they didn't access taxpayer records or tax returns.

Bentley signed the order Tuesday, which makes state Homeland Security Director Spencer Collier the state's senior law enforcement adviser.

One of Collier's responsibilities will be to ensure the maximum number of state law enforcement officers are on the streets. The governor says consolidating administrative duties among departments is a way to accomplish that.

Bentley says his plan would consolidate some administrative functions such as purchasing, fleet maintenance and communications.

Beginning today, undocumented immigrants under the age of 31 can apply for so-called "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals."

The program is designed to allow migrants to live and work in the U-S openly without fear of deportation.

State Homeland Security Director Spencer Collier says this will create a bureaucratic hurdle for Alabama law enforcement and businesses. Collier says since the policy change potentially could apply to anyone between 16 and 30 years of age, this new layer encompasses a substantial portion of the undocumented alien population.