A lawsuit filed by Jefferson County Circuit Clerk Lafayette Woods Sr., who claimed that the ability of his office to do its job was compromised when County Judge Gerald Robinson cut the office budget and eliminated three positions, was thrown out Thursday.

Retired Circuit Judge David Laser, who was assigned the case when all the judges in the county recused, said that while going from losing one person in the clerk’s office to losing three sounded unreasonable, the losses by other elected officials was greater. Woods contended that when the idea of reducing the county workforce was first discussed, each county official was asked to eliminate one position. The Jefferson County Quorum Court voted on an amended 2019 budget, that budget called for a reduction of $76,000.

“I had no problem with one, but there were three positions eliminated,” Woods said, adding that he was out of town when the Quorum Court met to discuss the revised budget, or he would have been there to protest the cuts. When Robinson testified, he said that when Woods contacted him, he had other commitments and tried to reschedule a meeting, but Woods didn’t show up. Robinson also said that the clerk’s office was over its payroll budget by more than $34,000. Nearly all who testified admitted that they really didn’t know exactly what the Circuit Clerk’s Office did and could not dispute what he said.

After the decision was made, Robinson said he did what he felt he needed to do for the county.