Gloucester Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert "Bob" Hicks has issued a formal apology to former county supervisor Teresa Altemus and current board members Michelle Ressler, Gregory Woodard and Bobby Crewe for comments he made subsequent to the board’s dismissal in 2008 of the county administrator, county attorney and other actions.

He has also issued a statement saying that he will not run for re-election.

In a July 15 notarized letter given to the Gazette-Journal in the form of a full-page advertisement and paid for "by the generosity of Gloucester County citizens," Hicks apologized to the four "for anything I may have said about them causing injury to any of their reputations." (The advertisement appears on page 11A).

In 2009, the four brought suit against Hicks for defamation of character. It is unclear whether Hicks’s formal apology will have any bearing on the lawsuit currently in Richmond City Circuit Court. No final disposition has been posted for the case; both Altemus and her attorney refused to comment on the letter or to say whether it represented a settlement of the lawsuit, and in response to an e-mail, Hicks said only that "the apology says it all."

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