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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Butch Ellis, the longtime attorney for Shelby County and former state senator, at his law office in Columbiana.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Butch Ellis, the longtime attorney for Shelby County and former state senator, sits at hisdesk at his law office in Columbiana.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Newspaper clippings, collected by a friend of Ellis’ at his law office, from an issue of the Shelby County Reporter published Feb. 2, 1995, show coverage of Ellis’ Appreciation Day Banquet.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
A story in the Shelby County Reporter published Nov. 10, 1983, highlights the election of Butch Ellis to the Alabama Senate.
By 11 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, Shelby County Attorney Butch Ellis has reheated his cup of coffee for the fifth time. He made it when he arrived at his office at 4:30, and over six hours later, he hasn’t finished it.
Ellis begins his days extremely early and always has. From the time he was around 6 years old, he would get up at 3 a.m. every day to help milk cows on his father’s dairy farm and make deliveries to customers around town.
“I’d come in from the milk route and had 30 minutes to clean up and get to school,” Ellis said. “By 3:15 in the afternoon, I was back in boots heading back to the barn. I had to be in bed at 7 p.m. every night. Weekends and summer vacation meant I’d be working all day, every day.”
That strong work ethic established at an early age has followed Ellis throughout his life. He is the longest serving and oldest county attorney in Alabama, representing Shelby County since 1964.
Now 80, Ellis has no plans to retire any time soon. When asked about a potential date, he laughed and said, “You can read about my retirement in the obituaries.”
STARTING OUT
After two semesters at the University of Montevallo, Ellis transferred to Auburn University. He wanted to play football for the Tigers but said he wasn’t good enough. He started out studying mechanical engineering, then switched to chemical engineering before deciding to transfer.
He had offers from other colleges and said he wonders what may have happened if he had taken a different path. He transferred back to Montevallo, finished his undergraduate degree there, then started law school at the University of Alabama, following in the footsteps of his grandfather who also had a law practice in Shelby County.
When he returned home the summer after his first year of law school, Ellis’ grandmother told him that local attorney Wales Wallace had called and asked if he would like to work with him at his law practice over the summer.
Before the summer was over, Wallace told him when he graduated law school, he would like him to come back and practice with him. Ellis continued to work for him on breaks and during the summer up until he graduated from Alabama.
“He had the best law practice in Shelby County and was the best trial lawyer I’ve ever been in the courtroom with,” Ellis said. “He was a wonderful, brilliant man who was also in touch with the people.”
Although he had offers from other firms with double the salary Wallace offered, he decided to come home and joined the practice when he was 24. He had married his longtime love, Diane Bentley, and they were expecting their first child.
“Most of my practice in the early years was representing private individuals and civil matters, but over time as the courts took away the immunity of government entities, counties and cities began to get sued and things got more and more,” Ellis said. “Now, my practice has evolved into being more governmental than anything else.”
A HARD WORKER
In addition to being the attorney for Shelby County, he has served as the attorney for the city of Pelham since 1964, when the city was incorporated with a population of 624 people. He has since added Helena, Calera, Montevallo and Wilton to this list of cities and towns he represents.
His work ethic comes from his hardworking farmer father and his “saint” school teacher mother.
“My dad said to show up at your job 30 minutes before the boss, work all day harder than everyone else, and work 30 minutes after the boss leaves,” he said.
Ellis stays healthy by exercising five days a week. For years, he went to the gym at 4:30 every morning for an hour and a half workout. Now, his workouts are done in his office — sit ups, push ups and dumbbell lifting before jogging around the streets of downtown Columbiana. He takes the weekends off from exercising, making sourdough bread instead.
He eats breakfast and lunch at his office every day, and enjoys the view from his balcony on the third floor of the Ellis, Head, Owens & Justice office building on North Main Street.
Ellis spent three terms (11 years) in the Alabama Senate, beginning in 1982. Even though some thought he would run for governor, Ellis said he knew immediately politics was not what he wanted. He said he only ran for his third term in 1990 because Shelby County was on the verge of bankruptcy and he wanted to do what he could to help.
“I decided to run one more time to find a solution, and I won,” he said. “My family told me that night if I ever run again, they’re not only going to vote against me, but would endorse my opponent.”
Ellis was successful in his objective to rescue Shelby County from a dire situation, and he was able to get legislation through for a 1-cent sales tax that would be used to payoff the county’s debt. It was limited to 10 years, but the $50 million debt was paid off in just seven years.
He said the disappointing thing to him was believing he could change things.
“You go down there and find out you can’t change anything, maybe bend it two or three percent, but you can’t change it, and it gives you a sense that maybe you’re wasting your time.”
Former Shelby County Manager Alex Dudchock has known Ellis since 1988 and said his legal counsel and professional guidance have enabled Shelby County to prosper and provide residents with timely services.
“Butch’s fingerprints are on all county services and initiatives for over five decades: water services, environmental services, law enforcement and correctional programs, road and bridge improvements, court system advancements, public facilities and community services,” Dudchock said. “I learned so much from him in dealing with difficult people and elected officials at all levels — federal, state and municipal. I would not have been able to serve the county for over 30 years without his consistent guidance and influence. Butch’s over 50 years of legal service as county attorney will never be equaled. He is a true gentleman, a legal scholar and a friend to many. Butch Ellis epitomizes the best of Shelby County.”
County Commissioner Lindsey Allison said she would hate to see what Shelby County would look like without Ellis being such an intricate part of its foundation and growth.
“Though I have only been involved with Butch either through the legal community or county government for 37 years, his contribution and reach to quality of life in Shelby County over the past 60 years is touched by no one,” Allison said. “Butch’s excellence in character leads this county through so many areas. The fact that he is involved in the decision making for various governments, organizations and individuals means issues are well thought out and considered before a decision is made. Butch makes anyone involved in the process better — much better to do their job, simply by his involvement.”
FAMILY MAN
Looking around his office, it is obvious Ellis is a family man. He has dozens of photos of his family, his favorite being a black and white picture of his four oldest grandchildren when they were young.
Ellis and his wife have three children and five grandchildren. His two daughters, Kelly and Christy, live just yards away on the family property, and his son, Corley, lives nearby.
“Our family is extremely close, and we spend a lot of time together,” Ellis said. “One of the greatest blessings in my life is that my children are extremely close and love each other.”
Working long hours for many years, Ellis said if he had to do anything over, he would have spent more time with his children when they were growing up. He’s glad the family remains close, and said he is proud of his children. Christy is a Realtor and works with Corley at Ellis Properties. Kelly is a pharmacist and recently opened Just a Tish Wine & More in Columbiana.
Corley is also serving in the Alabama House of Representatives and has previously served on the Shelby County Commission.
Ellis said his son is a better legislator than he was.
“He had a general bill pass through both the House and Senate last year without any opposition,” Ellis said. “I never did that. He’s got a good personality for it. He’s all the things people think I am, but I’m not.”
Corley said everything he is and everything he has he owes to his parents. It was his dad who instilled in him the desire to be a public servant.
“At a very early age, well before I knew anything about the political process, I would watch him work with people to resolve issues and conflict,” Corley said. “He was a master at navigating through the legislative process. I recognized it then, and today the people I meet in Montgomery still talk about it. I would argue that he is one of the best legislators to ever enter the Alabama Statehouse. Although I am obviously very proud, it has left some pretty hard footsteps for me to follow in.”
All of his life, Corley had had people tell him what a great attorney, senator or friend his dad was. While all of that is true, he said all of those come in a distant second place to what he and his two sisters know: that he is the best father they could have ever hoped for.
When he takes time off, he enjoys spending time at the cabin he built on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, in 1988. It can only be reached by boat or float plane. He goes several times each year, and the entire Ellis family went over the summer and spent several weeks there together. He said the place is a big part of their lives.
FUTURE PLANS
Ellis plans to continue working as long as he is healthy, saying “It’s the best alternative I’ve got.” Also, Diane has already told him what his schedule will be when he does retire.
“My wife says I can retire anytime I want to, but she has two rules: One, I must leave the house no later than 6 a.m. and two, I can’t come back until 6 p.m.,” he said. “She said she doesn’t want me looking over her shoulder and telling her how to do things.”
Over his tenure, Ellis said he has met a lot of extremely important people and formed friendships and bonds that will last a lifetime. While his personal pride is in his family, he takes extreme pride in Shelby County and how it’s run and the people in charge of it now.
“I play a very small role in it, but it’s very gratifying to me to still participate and continue the growth and development I’ve seen,” he said.
