A negotiated plea has been reached in a Mercer County School Board member’s battery case.
As a result, a jury trial that was scheduled to begin Monday in Mercer County Circuit Court for 53-year-old Talbert Balmer has been removed.
Balmer was charged with a Class 3 felony of aggravated battery in a public place and a Class A misdemeanor of battery following an incident at the Aledo Happy Joe’s in January 2024. According to a Mercer County Sheriff’s Department press release at the time of the arrest “the Mercer County Jail received Balmer from the Aledo Police Department” and he was “booked on the charge of simple battery.”
A plea hearing is set for Thursday.
Balmer has continued to serve on the Mercer County School District Board of Education.