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The Role and Perspective of State Legislators and Local Litigants
Original Program Date :
Length: 1:04:13
Speakers will discuss the role of legislators in citizens' everyday lives, how being an attorney affects the perspective of being a legislator and the role legislator's have played in voting rights in Alabama.
Cynthia Almond, Cynthia Lee Almond LLC
Cynthia was born and raised in Tuscaloosa. She graduated from Central High School and then attended Vanderbilt University. She received a Bachelor of Arts from The University of Alabama, majoring in History and minoring in Spanish, and she also received her Juris Doctor from The University of Alabama School of Law. Cynthia is an attorney in the private practice of law where she concentrates in estate planning and probate, business law, and real estate. She also owns a title company, Capitol Park Title.
In 2021, Cynthia was elected to the State of Alabama House of Representatives for District 63 in Tuscaloosa. She currently serves as Chair of the Tuscaloosa County Local Legislative Delegation and as a member of the Ways and Means Education Committee, the Judiciary Committee, Rules Committee, and serves as Vice-Chair of Ethics and Campaign Finance Committee. Previously, she served four terms on the Tuscaloosa City Council where she was elected by her peers as President Pro Tem of the council and served as Chair of the Finance committee. She is a graduate of Leadership Alabama and Co-Chair for its West Alabama Regional Council; she serves on the Capstone Health Services Foundation and on its Finance Committee, the Hank Poore Foundation, Immediate Past Chair of the State Bar Association’s Real Property/Probate/Trust section, and the BankFirst Advisory Board; and she is a member of and serves as a Sunday School teacher at First United Methodist Church. She previously served on and Chaired the West Alabama Regional Commission, and she also served on the Tuscaloosa County Tax Board. Cynthia has two children, Lee and Miller. In her spare time, Cynthia enjoys playing the piano, tennis, walking, running, mountain bike riding, kayaking, and most any other outdoor activity!
Christopher England, City Attorney's Office
Mr. England is a graduate of Washington D.C.’s Howard University with degrees in Political Science and English. He received his Juris Doctor from The University of Alabama School of Law in 2002. As a former assistant district attorney, Mr. England headed District Court prosecutions which included administering arraignments, trial and preliminary hearing dockets; represented the State of Alabama by way of the District Attorney’s Office in dependency and child in need of supervision (CHINS) hearings; tried numerous cases and handled seventy-two hour hearings in Juvenile Court; handled numerous hearings including preliminary, suppression, bond and revocation hearings. As an associate city attorney, Mr. England conducts training sessions for Law Enforcement involving Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment issues; drafts contracts and funding agreements for various departments within the City of Tuscaloosa; analyzes and investigates claims against the City of Tuscaloosa; drafts resolutions to be presented to the City Council; and defends the City of Tuscaloosa in regulatory complaints from other government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency. In his role as a State Representative, Mr. England is involved in generating budget for the Alabama Education Trust Fund and General Fund; is responsible for identifying and securing funding for various programs within District 70 and Tuscaloosa; engages in fundraising and public policy creation; is vice minority Whip of the Alabama Democratic Party, vice chair of the Tuscaloosa County Legislative Delegation, and a member of the Judiciary, Public Safety, and local Legislation committees.
