Reed takes Alford plea deal in tracking case

Editor's note: This story has been edited since original publication.

Alex Reed’s case in court is finished for all intents and purposes.

Reed, the chief of staff for Jackson Mayor Scott Conger, ended his case in Judge Kyle Atkins’ Circuit Court in Jackson when he accepted an Alford plea deal in the case.

While Reed did not explicitly admit guilt in the case, the Alford plea is recorded in court records as a guilty plea, according to Atkins during the hearing on Monday.

Reed had three charges against him – one charge of stalking and two of illegal tracking with an electronic device (one in Madison County and one in Chester County).

The charges came from an investigation conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation last fall in which a person filed a complaint with Jackson Police about a tracking device being found in his car.

That person was named in Monday’s hearing, Grayson Hart, who was present for the hearing as well.

According to assistant prosecutor Meghan Fowler, the stalking charge and the tracking charge in Chester County have been dismissed. Reed pled on the Madison County tracking charge.

There was a moment of contention when Fowler was reading through the facts of the case to account for the guilty plea in the court’s records when Reed’s attorney, Tim Crocker, objected.

“Your honor, we’re not contesting any of this, but none of what she’s read [to that point] is relevant to the plea,” Crocker said. “This is a courtroom, and she’s getting political, and this isn’t the place for that.”

Atkins agreed with Crocker and asked Fowler to get to the part relevant to the guilty plea.

Because of the deal, Reed will serve 11 months and 29 days on unsupervised probation with a curfew and alcohol restriction in place.

Reed’s upcoming appearance in court in Chester County in August will not happen since that charge is dismissed as well.

Hart declined to comment after the hearing.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news