Scio Township Has Spent $103K in Legal Fees For Sup. Jillian Kerry, Now Trustees Tighten Purse Strings

by P.D. Lesko

Between Dec. 2023 and October 2024 in the matter of State of Michigan v Kerry, Scio Township paid $103,677.25 for reimbursement of Supervisor Jillian Kerry’s cost of two attorneys’ services she incurred. Kerry’s case stems from a Complaint filed by former Scio Twp. Supervisor Will Hathaway. That Complaint alleges Kerry hacked into an Outlook email account belonging to Hathaway and sent one email and an invitation from his account. Thanks to Sec. 2-42 of the Scio Township Code of Ordinances, since October 2024 township taxpayers have been on the hook for Kerry’s substantial legal fees.

At the Township’s May 13, 2025 meeting of the Scio Township Board of Trustees (Ryan Yaple, Jessica Flintoft, Kathleen Brant, Kathy Knol, John Reiser and David Read) the “Resolution Regarding Township Review of Invoices for Attorney Services” was passed. The “Resolution Regarding Costs of Attorney Services” was also passed. The resolutions impose controls on Township reimbursement of legal bills, including bills for the services of “an attorney” (Kerry has been reimbursed for the services of two attorneys).

The Trustees also amended Sec. 2-42 of the Scio Township Code of Ordinances so that the Township may pay attorney’s fees, instead of shall pay attorney’s fees. According to the explanation accompanying the agenda item, the changes to Sec. 2-42 were made so that the Township’s ordinance matches the the State authorizing statute.

Sec. 2-42 of the Scio Township Code of Ordinances prior to its amendment stated: “Whenever a criminal action is commenced against a past or present officer or past or present employee of the township based upon the conduct of the officer or employee in the course of employment, if the employee or officer had a reasonable basis for believing that he was acting within the scope of his authority at the time of the alleged conduct, the township shall pay for, engage, or furnish the services of an attorney to advise the officer or employee as to the action and to appear for and represent the officer or employee in the action.”

Supervisor Kerry stands charged with Computers – Using to Commit a Crime, punishable by 2-4 years in prison, and a fine of $5,000. Kerry is also charged with Interfering With Electronic Communications, punishable by 2 years in prison and/or a $1,000 fine. 

At an April 30, 2025 preliminary hearing held before the Hon. J. Cedric Simpson in the 14-A District Court, it was revealed that Complainant, former Scio Township Supervisor Will Hathaway, had installed the Outlook email program on the Township-owned one shared laptop computer, and then had left his personal Outlook email logged in. Jillian Kerry has said she’d logged into the Township’s shared laptop computer in order to start a Zoom meeting of a Township commission, and she needed the two-factor authentication code sent to her email by Zoom. When she launched Outlook, Kerry says, Hathaway’s personal email had been left open and logged in. The dispute centers around two emails left in Hathaway’s email outbox that were sent out. Kerry’s lawyer, R. Michael Bullotta, says both emails were sent “programmatically.”

Will Hathaway filed a Complaint against Kerry when he discovered the emails had gone out from his Outlook email account; the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office investigated and then asked Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit to press charges against Kerry, which the Prosecutor did.

At the most recent Preliminary Hearing at which Sheriff’s computer crime investigator Dr. Kevin Parviz was scheduled to testify, the Prosecutor told Judge Simpson that an “alternative resolution” to the case was in the works. Kerry’s lawyer Bullotta, when asked about what an “alternative resolution” might look like, said he could not comment.

It’s unclear whether the offer of an alternative resolution in Kerry’s case might be connected to Savit’s recent announcement that he is running to serve as Michigan’s next Attorney General.

Beginning in Sept. 2024, the Scio Twp. Trustees found themselves faced with paying Jillian Kerry’s legal bills. Kerry had been elected a trustee in Nov. 2022 and was, in 2024, running for Supervisor. Hathaway opposed her candidacy, including by funding a Super Pac front group called “Fix Scio.”

Some Scio Township residents see political dirty tricks in the Trustees’ May 13, 2025 resolutions. Scio Township resident Leigh Ann Phillips-Knope wrote in an email to the Trustees:

“My family is broken-hearted by the May 13 Resolutions which undermine Supervisor Kerry in her fight for freedom for simply doing her job. We can not even begin to imagine how betrayed, vulnerable and angry she must feel today. We believe this prolonged act of political oppression by Hathaway has shown he is far more cruel than anyone could have imagined. But these Resolutions are equally brutal because they would BANKRUPT Kerry, holding the victim responsible for the systemic injustice being waged against her!”

Philips-Knope believes the Township must continue to pay Sup. Kerry’s legal fees related to her defense in State of Michigan v Kerry. “We elected all of you (in large part) to remedy Hathaway’s toxicity, and Scio must continue our legal obligation to pay her attorney fees.”

The resolutions, particularly the amendment of Sec. 2-42 of the Scio Township Code of Ordinances which bound the Township to cover legal expenses, were supported by Trustees as fiscally prudent and legally long overdue.

Going forward, all of Jillian Kerry’s legal bills submitted for payment to the Township will be scrutinized by the Township’s counsel (Fink & Fink) and then approved. Trustees want to make sure that all billable hours paid with Township funds are directly related to the defense of Jillian Kerry and not, for instance, to compensate Bullotta for time spent speaking to the media on Kerry’s behalf.

Sup. Kerry has submitted additional claims for payment to Scio Township for reimbursement of the costs of two attorneys’ services she incurred from November 2024 through March 2025.