Less than a year into job, Cayce’s attorney plans to leave city
The city of Cayce is searching for a new attorney after the one it hired less than a year ago has announced his intention to leave.
Will Dillard, who was hired by the City Council in January of this year, plans to depart after Cayce picks someone to fill his spot, a spokesperson for the city confirmed.
His departure comes immediately after the Nov. 4 election, which saw two new faces elected to City Council. The new members are longtime educator Tiffany Aull in District 1 and newcomer Alice Rose in District 3.
At its Thursday night meeting, the City Council voted unanimously to postpone discussions on hiring a new attorney to its next meeting in December. Both Dillard and attorney James Smith, who represented Mayor Elise Partin amid a council-led misconduct probe, were in attendance at the Thursday night meeting and sat in on the closed-door executive session in which Council discussed the “possible employment of city attorney.”
The city council entered into executive session for “receipt of legal advice relating to claims and potential claims by and against the City and other matters covered by the attorney-client privilege,” its agenda said.
Dillard was hired by the city at a Jan. 15, 2025 council meeting. He replaced the city’s longtime attorney Danny Crowe. For the work he did for Cayce, he was paid an hourly rate of $250. Dillard also works as the attorney for the city of Forest Acres.
Since July of last year, Cayce has seen high turnover in some of its top administrative positions — cycling through two city managers, two police chiefs, a finance director and a human resource director.
