Of the six county residents cited for violating Fayette County's

sign ordinance, four of the cases will be dropped due to insufficient

evidence, State Court Solicitor Steve Harris said Friday morning.

Harris, a candidate for Superior Court Judge, said none of those four

cases involved persons displaying his campaign signs. But two of the

other cases did.

Harris has already determined he has a conflict of interest in one of

the remaining two cases because one of his campaign signs was still in

the ground on the homeowner's property when the citation that was

issued by the Fayette County Marshal's Department. Harris said after

the citation was written to that homeowner, he offered to take his campaign

sign down, but the owner told him to "stay off my property" and

thus the sign remained on display.

Harris is still reviewing the sixth case, in which the citation didn't

involve one of Harris's signs ... but one of Harris's signs

was on the property when the original warning was written, Harris said.

Harris noted that he removed that sign after the warning was written.

Harris said he reviewed the evidence for all six citations with the

deputy marshal who wrote them and Chief Marshal C.L. "Butch" Hall.

Some of the six citations involved homeowners displaying too many signs

and others involved signs that were larger than allowed by county ordinance,

Harris said.

Harris has come under criticism recently for a letter he wrote to County

Manager Chris Cofty that said persons cited for violating the sign ordinance

with political signs wouldn't be prosecuted because the ordinance

was unconstitutional.

State Court Judge Fletcher Sams later wrote Cofty, noting that Harris

can't make an official determination on whether the ordinance was

constitutional. Sams pledged to treat each case in court impartially

regardless of Harris's opinion on the ordinance.

The latest salvo came from County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn, who

wrote a letter to Harris "on behalf of the Board of Commissioners."

In the letter, Dunn indicated that if Harris doesn't prosecute

the cases "the Board of Commissioners will be forced to seek legal

redress in an effort to protect the interests of our citizens."

The letter continues: "Your position presents a clear and present

danger to the administration of justice and the danger is aggravated

your professional duties to your client."

Dunn also asked Harris to reconsider his position.

"We ask that your set aside personal prejudice and conflict and

prosecute these offenses. If you cannot, disqualify yourself for conflict,

encourage the same action by others in your office, and insist that an

uninterested outside party handle these matters," Dunn wrote.

Harris said the issue is about protecting the first amendment right

to free speech, which he takes seriously.

"I didn't take this lightly - I knew it was going to

be used against me," Harris said of his stand on political signs. "I

could have sacrificed six homeowners for my political gain ... but that's

just not right."