Chambers’ board seat safe for now

Longtime Buckingham County Supervisor Joe N. Chambers Jr. doesn’t face another election for two years. Yet his seat could be in jeopardy if he is convicted of felony timber theft.

A Buckingham grand jury on April 14 handed down a direct indictment against Chambers. If found guilty, the 61-year-old could face 20 years in prison and be forced to pay several thousand dollars in restitution.

Buckingham also would have to find a replacement supervisor, because a public office holder convicted of a felony must step down once the appeals process is completed, according to the Virginia Board of Elections and the code of Virginia.

The indictment has no immediate effect on Chambers, “unless he chooses to leave,” said Matt Abell, assistant manager of election services with the Virginia Board of Elections.

Chambers has not returned phone calls seeking comment since his indictment.

None of Buckingham’s supervisors — Chairman I. Monroe Snoddy; E.A. “Bill” Talbert; Brian Bates; F.D. “Danny” Lesueur; John Kitchen Jr.; and Danny Allen — has responded to phone messages.

E.M. Wright Jr., Buckingham commonwealth’s attorney and county attorney, also has failed to return phone messages seeking comment. Wright recused himself from Chambers’ criminal case, which is being handled by special prosecutor James R. Ennis, of Prince Edward County.

The indictment stems from a Sept. 24, 2007, incident in which Chambers is alleged to have illegally harvested about 5 acres of timber along Route 601 in Buckingham.

Chambers is the president of Joe Chambers Logging Co., which he has owned since 1970.

He apparently had permission to harvest timber on property that abuts the land in question, which is owned by Richard Morrison.

Morrison claims Chambers did not have permission to take timber from his land, which he and a partner bought almost four decades ago to hunt on and as an investment.

The current case is similar to a civil suit filed against Chambers three years ago.

In April 2006, Charlottesville resident H.D. Bruns II filed a $315,000 lawsuit claiming that Chambers cut timber on the plaintiff’s 49 acres in Buckingham.

That case remains active.

Bruns’ attorney, John W. Zunka, said there is nothing on the docket but that his client intends to continue pursuing the suit.

Chambers has a history of other problems as well.

The embattled supervisor — a longtime minister, according to Buckingham County’s Web site — has failed to pay taxes and business debts and last year was charged with drunken driving, which was later reduced to reckless driving. He served four days in jail for the conviction.

Chambers’ tax woes came on the local, state and federal levels. The most serious violation led the IRS to file two income tax liens against him for a total of more than $68,000.

Chambers has settled or lost several lawsuits worth thousands of dollars in Buckingham General District Court dating to 1998.

Several other suits were filed and dismissed.

Chambers also has had run-ins with the state Department of Forestry.

In the Bruns case, the department inspected the property and issued civil penalties against Chambers.

The department put Chambers on a payment plan, but that apparently hasn’t worked out.

“We got a couple of bounced checks from him,” said Matt Poirot, the department’s assistant director of water quality.

The department has filed property liens against Chambers.

“We’ve had him on the books for over $200,000” for the violations, Poirot said.

He said that in the past year, Chambers has been cited “a couple times” for failing to notify the department of harvesting jobs. Those violations are minor, Poirot said.

But he said Chambers has “been a thorn in our sides for years.”

Chambers has been charged criminally in only the one timber-theft case and there are no other known lawsuits against him related to such actions.

Poirot, who said Chambers is at “the top of the list” as far as reported problems go, isn’t confident the department will collect the civil penalties.

“I don’t know that we’ll ever see the money,” he said. “Unless he sells his property.”

Chambers is scheduled to appear in court in Buckingham on May 6.