Madison County Commissioner and Madison City Fire Chief Alfred Junior Martin, arrested on grand theft charges on Wednesday, has been removed from elected office by Gov. Rick Scott.

He becomes the third official from Madison County, a county of nearly 20,000 along the Georgia state line, suspended from office by Scott in the past year.

No replacement for Martin, a Democrat re-elected in 2010, was immediately named.

Martin, 52, of Madison, faces four felony charges -- two for grand theft and two for official misconduct stemming from his alleged failure to deposit money by the city to reimburse the Madison Volunteer Fire Department, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The FDLE, which began its investigation in November, alleges Martin falsified receipts relating to the improper use of the volunteer firefighters’ bank account and on two occasions, in 2009 and 2010, failed to deposit money from city employee luncheons.

The total of the checks equaled about $1,000.

He was booked into the Madison County Jail with bond set at $10,000.

Martin's arrest is unrelated to the county's other incident that resulted in two officials being removed from office.

In November, Supervisor of Elections Jada Woods Williams and Madison County School Board member Abra Hill "Tina" Johnson were suspended from office by Scott after the FDLE arrested them and six others -- including Johnson’s husband -- in connection with alleged voter fraud that allowed Johnson to win a runoff election in 2011.

Scott named Republican Thomas R. “Tommy” Hardee, an insurance agent and volunteer fireman, as Williams’ interim replacement in December.

Both Hardee and Williams, a Democrat charged with 17 counts of neglect of duty and corrupt practices for allowing absentee ballots to be illegally distributed, are running.

Amy Kendrick is going up against Williams in the Aug. 14 Democratic primary.

Johnson’s seat remains vacant.



Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.