Two days after being released from jail for a Friday public intoxication arrest, West Point Mayor Kenneth Kilgo said he still plans to talk at greater length about the incident and its effect on his bid for higher office—but he needs one more day to collect his thoughts.

After agreeing to meet with The Cullman Times’ editorial staff Monday morning, Kilgo changed his mind, saying he wasn’t ready to give more than a brief phone interview until Tuesday.

In the interview, Kilgo said his “life was turned upside down” when deputies from the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office took him into custody at approximately 6 p.m. Friday evening at Brandin’ Iron Steakhouse in West Point.

Kilgo is running for the District 12 seat of the Alabama House of Representatives as a Republican, a seat currently held by Rep. James Fields (D-Hanceville), who is running for re-election. Republican Mac Buttram, a Cullman resident, is also seeking the District 12 seat.

Asked if he was inebriated at the time of his arrest, Kilgo said “No; I didn’t feel like I was.” Similarly, when asked whether alcohol is currently a detriment in his life, he answered, “No; not at all.”

“My life’s been an open book,” he said. “I’m a big boy and I’m still far from perfect. This has been hurtful to the core of my soul. The thing that bothers me is why things had to happen this way. I ask that you give me enough time to sort it out before we talk about this.”

Kilgo was adamant that he will remain in the race for House District 12, and that he will continue as mayor of West Point.

“I’ve got a public service record that I’m proud of and that I’ll stand on,” he said. “I’m not going to be evasive. I’m not running from anything.”

Cullman County Republican Party Vice-chair Wayne Walker said Monday that Kilgo will meet with party leaders today to clarify his position in the June 1 primary race.

“If he was to win the primary, of course the local party would support him, and of course he would get all kind of support from the state also,” said Walker. “We’re having an executive committee meeting at 5:30 and we have asked him to come.” Party officials would not be able to comment further on Kilgo’s campaign until after today’s meeting, said Walker.

Kilgo said Monday he had “absolutely no experience with this arrest process.”

“I’m soon to be 53 years old, and I’ve never had anything in my life happen like what happened Friday night,” Kilgo said, prefacing his account of the evening’s events.

“I still don't know why it happened,” he said. “I walked into that restaurant; they escorted me to a corner table by myself. I placed an order. I got up and fixed my salad, and sat back down. I ate my meal by myself—never said a word to a soul—then got up and left a tip on the table. They asked, ‘How was everything?’ and I said everything was just fine. I’m a public figure, and you do try to be polite to folks. But the whole time I was in there, I was by myself; not carrying on any conversations. Then when I went outside, it was a deputy and some cop cars—I didn't know what was going on.”

Kilgo said other issues affected the circumstances that led to his arrest, but was not ready to address those specifically Monday afternoon. “They’re extremely personal,” he said. “I’m asking people to give me the same level of decency and respect...”

Cullman County Sheriff Tyler Roden described the arrest Monday afternoon during a follow-up interview with The Times.

“We received a call that there was a possibly intoxicated person inside the restaurant,” Roden said. “A deputy responded and saw Kenneth walking out of the restaurant toward his vehicle.”

Roden said the deputy then spoke with Kilgo before making the arrest.

“The deputy approached him and began to communicate with him,” Roden said. “The deputy made the determination that he was intoxicated and developed probable cause to make the arrest for public intoxication.”

Two sheriff’s office vehicles responded at the restaurant, though Roden said the support was not needed to arrest Kilgo.

“Kenneth was cooperative and respectful during the entire situation,” he said.

Kilgo was not offered a breathalyzer at the scene, said Roden.

“Those are not commonly used to make a public intoxication arrest,” he explained. “We normally just use those as evidence on a DUI case.”

Roden said Kilgo was only charged with public intoxication, as deputies do not know his condition when he drove to the restaurant.

“Obviously, we did not see him drive there,” he said. “It was just the assessment deputies on the scene made to charge him with public intoxication, and I support the conclusion they came to.”

Kilgo was released from the Cullman County Detention Center at approximately 12 a.m. Saturday.

“When someone is released, it normally depends on their level of intoxication,” Roden said. “Kenneth stayed in [custody] for about five hours. They stay until we believe their level of intoxication is below .05 blood alcohol content.”

In the state of Alabama, .08 blood alcohol content is considered legally intoxicated.



* Benjamin Bullard can be reached by e-mail at bbullard@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 270. Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 225.