Former Coastal Alabama Community College president Craig Pouncey was indicted in late December 2025 on three felony counts of using his office for personal gain, a violation of the Alabama Ethics Act. A Baldwin County grand jury returned the indictment after a referral from the Alabama Ethics Commission earlier in the year. The allegations center on concrete blocks Pouncey removed from a college campus and used on his personal waterfront property.
The Charges and Arrest
Warren Craig Pouncey, 67, was booked into the Baldwin County Corrections Center on December 30, 2025 on three counts of using his office for personal gain.1Lagniappe Mobile. Former Coastal Alabama President Arrested He was released the same day after posting a $30,000 bond, set at $10,000 per count.
Early jail records listed 15 charges and a $150,000 bond, and several outlets initially reported those figures. The Baldwin County booking entry was later corrected to reflect the three-count indictment.2AL.com. Former Jefferson County Superintendent, Junior College President Arrested
The charges relate exclusively to Pouncey’s tenure as president of Coastal Alabama Community College. His earlier roles in Alabama education are not part of the indictment.3CBS42. Former Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Craig Pouncey Arrested on Ethics Charges
What Pouncey Is Accused of Doing
The grand jury indictment accuses Pouncey of using a school office for personal gain and taking property from Coastal Alabama Community College.4WKRG. Warren Pouncey Felony Charges The underlying conduct, which Pouncey has acknowledged publicly, involved concrete blocks. During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, he removed blocks from the CACC Atmore campus and used them on his personal waterfront property as a base for riprap.5Lagniappe Mobile. Ex-Coastal Alabama President Faces Alleged Ethics Violation
Pouncey’s Defense
Pouncey described the concrete as “pitted and useless” construction debris that a contractor had discarded during a campus renovation. He said the college needed the area cleared for a landscaper and that hauling the blocks away himself saved the school from paying for a dumpster and landfill fees. He called the material “junk” and said he does not know whether the Ethics Commission assigned a monetary value to it.5Lagniappe Mobile. Ex-Coastal Alabama President Faces Alleged Ethics Violation
He also alleged that the Ethics Commission did not interview the college’s job superintendent or the contractor involved in the renovation before making its referral, and he claimed the underlying ethics complaint was filed by a former CACC employee who was later dismissed from the college.
How the Case Reached a Grand Jury
The Alabama Ethics Commission investigated Pouncey under Case No. 2024-0408. At its April 2, 2025 meeting, the commission voted 3-0 that there was “cause to hold that Dr. Warren Pouncey has violated the Alabama Ethics Act” and referred the matter to the district attorney of the appropriate judicial circuit.6Alabama Ethics Commission. Minutes of the April 2, 2025 Meeting The Baldwin County District Attorney’s office then presented the case to a grand jury, which returned the three-count indictment in December.2AL.com. Former Jefferson County Superintendent, Junior College President Arrested
Who Craig Pouncey Is
Pouncey spent more than 38 years in Alabama’s education system, beginning as a fourth-grade teacher at Harrison Elementary School in Montgomery and later serving as superintendent of Crenshaw County Schools.7Alabama Community College System. Chancellor Announces Dr. Craig Pouncey as President of Coastal Alabama Community College He spent nearly a decade at the Alabama State Department of Education, rising to chief of staff under State Superintendent Tommy Bice at an annual salary of $168,000.8AL.com. Dr. Craig Pouncey Hired as New JefCo Schools Superintendent
In June 2014, the Jefferson County School Board voted 4-1 to hire him as superintendent.9WBRC. Dr. Craig Pouncey Hired as New JefCo Schools Superintendent He was later named Alabama Superintendent of the Year by the School Superintendents of Alabama.7Alabama Community College System. Chancellor Announces Dr. Craig Pouncey as President of Coastal Alabama Community College He resigned from Jefferson County Schools effective September 27, 2019 and began as president of Coastal Alabama Community College on October 1, 2019. The Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees approved his retirement in November 2023.10Alabama Reflector. Community College Board of Trustees Approves New Coastal Alabama Community College President Dr. Aaron Milner, formerly superintendent of Saraland City Schools, succeeded him on February 1, 2024.11Coastal Alabama Community College. ACCS Board of Trustees Approves Dr. Aaron Milner as President of Coastal Alabama Community College
Where the Case Stands
Pouncey has been indicted and released on bond. No trial date, arraignment, plea, or further court proceedings have been publicly reported. Milner, the current CACC president, said the college could not comment and deferred inquiries to the Alabama Community College System.4WKRG. Warren Pouncey Felony Charges