Unified Public Safety

By J. Thomas Wade
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News

September 10, 2026

SEMMES, AL. For the past few years, the city has loosely talked about the possibilities of exploring the possibilities of exiting the Mobile County school system and establishing their own school district, something that we have seen similar cities in Baldwin County do in recent years.

As with the City of Fairhope, who recently sent out questionnaires and hired several companies to do a feasibility study, Semmes conducted a community survey to gauge interest in creating its own school system, and the response was clear.

The response from our residents was overwhelming for the city of Semmes wanting to have a school system,” Semmes Mayor Brandon Van Hook said.

Semmes, a growing city but small city of approximately 7000, has for years sent their children to schools operated by Mobile County, including Semmes Elementary, Semmes Middle and Mary G. Montgomery High School.

But that might change, sooner than later but as Van Hook explains, that local control would come with a cost. He says about 95% of the revenue the city currently operates on comes from sales tax. A standalone school system would require a new source of funding, likely an ad valorem property tax.

Of course, the ad valorem question was asked. Some people wanted to know more about the ad valorem, and we’ll have some folks opposed, and then we’ll have some who will pay whatever if it gives us more local control,” Van Hook said.

An ad valorem property tax is a yearly tax charged by local governments based on the fair market value of real estate or personal property. The phrase “ad valorem” is Latin for “according to value”.

Without having an additional annual revenue that would help support our school system, it just wouldn’t work.

Fairhope, a city of almost 28,000 people, also sought residents feedback on starting their own school system and it had a mixed reaction.
Like Semmes, city students attend local schools that are part of the Baldwin County School System and funding for those schools come from property taxes, passed on to the county school system.

In 2023, Semmes fully funded their police department which now employs sixteen officers and a police chief.
Prior to establishing their own police force, the city contracted their law enforcement services to the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office.

The issue of controlling our own destiny is one that small to midsize cities are facing statewide as more people are moving from the cities to smaller communities and rural areas of the counties.
With the growth comes the responsibility of providing services such as police and fire, public utilities and educational facilities said Jimmy Stand, a Rural Sociologist, who has studied the migration of people for over thirty years.

Van Hook said that it’ll be up to the residents to determine what they’re willing to spend on the future of the city and of their children’s education.

Exactly how much residents could pay is one of the questions a feasibility study is expected to answer. While the city waits on the study’s findings, they’ve approved the hire of a local attorney, Nash Campbell, to continue guiding them in the right direction of a city school system.

According to Van Hook, besides the cost, there’s another hurdle. The schools serving Semmes are currently located within Mobile city limits, meaning the city will need to look at annexation if it ultimately wants those school properties under a new Semmes school system.

“That’s one of the reasons we hired Nash. He can help guide us through this process. Hopefully when the feasibility study is completed and we have the information needed to show that we can create and implement a school system, sustain a school system then we can get that property annexed in,” Van Hook said.

Though the response of the residents was positive and exciting, there is still a lot of work to be done before we can move forward, the mayor said.

Mayor Van Hook says the city expects to have the results of the feasibility study by the end of November.

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