County prosecuting attorney Robert P. McCulloch, whose office filed the petition to have Edwards ousted, applauded the order. "This guy (Edwards) has exceeded routinely his authority, acted unlawfully, and as a result, forfeited his office," McCulloch said. "It's a very outrageous situation and should be treated as such. ... We haven't had issues like this anywhere else."

Edwards could not be reached for comment.

The ruling marks a possible turning point for the chaotic Northeast board, with the removal of a director whose election sparked a wave of controversies.

Edwards' election in April 2007 tipped the majority of the three-member board in favor of then-director Joseph L. Washington. Together, they hired attorneys Elbert Walton Jr. and Bernard Edwards Jr., who went on to bill the district hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. The attorneys agreed to leave their posts in November but are still seeking thousands of dollars in severance pay and legal fees from the district.

The Washington-Edwards era also saw angry clashes between the board and some district residents — some of whom the directors had arrested or voted to ban.

And it led to ongoing investigations of the district by county, state and federal authorities, as well as Washington's guilty plea last month to a felony count of violating the federal Clean Air Act.

Edwards' seat can only be filled by a judge. Until that decision is made, the board may end up deadlocked, because there is friction between the two remaining directors, Rhea Willis and Bridget Quinlisk-Dailey.

A judge also will decide whether to reinstate ousted director Bob Lee, whom Edwards and Washington removed from the board in July. Lee's case is pending in circuit court and could mean the removal of Willis, who replaced him.

VOTING SOLO

The prosecuting attorney's office filed the petition Oct. 26 to remove Edwards, claiming he'd conducted district business without a quorum and a majority vote of the board.

Edwards made motions and voted on them solo at a board meeting Oct. 6, after Willis denounced him and other district leaders and then walked out of the meeting. With one seat vacant, Edwards and Willis were the board's only directors.

During the next two board meetings, Oct. 13 and 20, Willis did not second any of Edwards' motions. Still, Edwards — acting on Walton's advice — continued to make board decisions involving the approval of minutes, the payment of bills and going into closed session.

In a hearing Friday, Edwards' attorney, Rufus J. Tate Jr., argued that Edwards had done no wrong in that he had sought advice from an attorney before carrying on with the meetings. Tate also argued that Edwards, while acting solo, had made no significant board decisions.

Hood's 6½-page order called Edwards' testimony Friday "vague, with a significant absence of a basic knowledge of what constitutes a quorum" and that of attorney Walton "incredible and his actions in complicity" with Edwards. It knocked Walton for advising Edwards to continue a meeting after Willis departed and for advising Edwards to waive Robert's Rules of Order at the next meeting, in contradiction to bylaws drafted by Walton.

Tate, one of two attorneys recently hired by the Northeast board, said he plans to both appeal the decision and seek to keep Edwards on the board during the appeal.

Asked whether the board had voted to approve legal work in Edwards' case, Tate said it had not because his and attorney Anthony Gray's contracts with the district don't require such permission.

"Everything can be re-evaluated, but I was certainly hired in my capacity to represent various directors ... whose right to hold office is being challenged," Tate said. "That includes the whole kit and caboodle for us because you've got to anticipate when you hire a lawyer that you might lose at the trial level. ... Our representation includes the appeal of a case unless we say otherwise."

Gray also told the Post-Dispatch that their contracts allowed them to take legal action without board permission.

MORE LEGAL FEES

Quinlisk-Dailey said she is troubled by the use of taxpayer funds to defend Edwards, especially in light of funds already lost to legal fees in the past 2½ years. "I'm astounded that they feel they can use more district tax money to have an ousted board member reinstated," she said, adding that she plans to bring up the matter in a meeting Friday with the district's court-appointed special master, Booker T. Shaw.

Northeast's funds were ordered frozen Oct. 20 and can only be spent with permission from Shaw.

Otherwise, Quinlisk-Dailey said she was pleased with Edwards' ouster.

"I am hopeful a completely new board would be better able to address the financial situation and all of the problems created by the previous board," she said. "Our district is in desperate need of change."

Willis, the other remaining director, said in an e-mail her attorneys had advised her not to comment.

The prosecuting attorney's office used a petition in "quo warranto" to remove Edwards — a rarely used legal action in which a public official's right to hold public office is challenged.

McCulloch's office used it in May 2006 to oust Ben Branch as interim police chief in Overland. Branch had been appointed by then-Mayor Ann Purzner, but a judge ruled that Purzner had exceeded her authority.

Edwards and Washington aren't unfamiliar with quo warranto. Shortly after taking control of the board, the two tried to oust Lee with the legal action, but failed.