A letter from the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia (PAC) says an inquiry by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation into the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners and hauling vendors is closed.
The investigation by the state agency began back on February 28 after an individual contacted District Attorney Robert Busbee regarding the bid and contracting process for the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Due to the appropriations-related responsibilities of county commissioners for the district attorney’s office, Busbee contacted the GBI and recused his office from any further action on the case.
Under Georgia law, only a sheriff, a police chief, a superior court judge, or a district attorney can request assistance by the GBI. It is not unusual for the requesting elected officials to contact the GBI without conducting additional investigation when conflicts of interest exist as the premise of contacting the GBI is to bring in an objective third party.
GriceConnect broke the story about the investigation in early March and reported that Bulloch County Public Works contracts with J.L. Derriso Trucking and Sand Creek Land Construction, owned by Clay Conner – brother of Commissioner Toby Conner, were the subject of the investigation.
TheGeorgiaVirtue.com shortly thereafter published an article regarding the ethics component to the Sand Creek Land Construction votes by Commissioner Toby Conner after he failed to recuse himself from certain votes involving his brother.
In May 2025, the Statesboro Herald reported that after two months, the investigation was still ongoing and that the county had complied with agents over the course of the investigation. At the time, little information was known.
Sand Creek Land Construction has continued to provide services to the county over the last several months and Commissioner Toby Conner has recused himself from both the discussion and official votes on the contracts, moving to the audience during the agenda items.
During the most recent county commission meeting, [Clay] Conner’s attorney, Jim Durham, spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting to announce that the GBI investigation had been closed and that [Clay] Conner had been treated ‘unfairly,’ referencing in particular a social media post about Conner’s company and items on the agenda for later in the same meeting. Durham said he implored the GBI to make a statement about the concluded investigation, to effectively clear [Clay] Conner’s name and that of his business, though when TheGeorgiaVirtue contacted the GBI Tuesday morning (August 19), they were still awaiting a formal decision on the case by PAC.
The eventual letter from PAC, dated August 20, 2025, is addressed to Special Agent Justin Jones of the Region 5 GBI office in Statesboro and states that the investigative file was reviewed by PAC and discussed with the agent over the case.
“Based on your findings and our analysis of the case, there is no readily provable criminal intent, and the case is declined,” State Prosecutor Christopher A. George wrote.
With PAC declining to take any further action, the investigation is closed.
