The Chatham County Sheriff may be gearing up for a legal battle against his own Board of Commissioners.
A letter written to Chatham County attorney Jonathan Hart by attorney Scott Grubman of Chilivis Grubman out of Atlanta on behalf of Sheriff Richard Coleman on November 20 indicates that Coleman has retained the law firm “to represent him in his official capacity, in connection with legal action that he is contemplating against the County.”
TheGeorgiaVirtue.com obtained the correspondence as part of an Open Records Request filed on a matter related to the Sheriff’s Office.
The letter continues:
“Because the contemplated litigation would involve claims by the Sheriff against the County and/or the County Commission, the County attorney has a conflict of interest that would prevent the County Attorney from representing both the County and Sheriff Coleman.
Because the County Attorney has a conflict, pursuant to OCGA 45-9-21(c)(2), Sheriff Coleman is authorized to hire outside counsel to represent him in connection with this dispute. Moreover, the County is required to pay Sheriff Coleman’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. My firm’s hourly rates for this matter are $500 for partners and $400 for non-partners, which represent a discount off our standard hourly rates.
On behalf of Sheriff Coleman, and pursuant to the above-referenced statute, we ask that you contact us at your earliest convenience so that we may make arrangements for the County’s payment of our fees and expenses as required by statute. I look forward to speaking with you.”
A brief internet search indicates that Grubman is the same attorney representing Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen, who is seeking a writ of mandamus and injunctive relief against his own Board of Commissioners over the county budget and sheriff’s office appropriations. He also represented former Columbus City Manager Isaiah Hugley in a EEOC complaint against the consolidated government.
Coleman would join three other Sheriffs who are currently taking legal action against their county Board of Commissioners, following suit of Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams, Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen, and Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat.
TheGeorgiaVirtue.com spoke with the Chatham County Attorney’s Office on Tuesday and they stated they were unaware of the specific cause of action that may be forthcoming, but encouraged TheGeorgiaVirtue.com to include the independent counsel for the Sheriff’s Office on any records requests related to the Sheriff’s Office.
Change In Process for Fulfilling Requests for Records
Earlier this year, on April 2, TheGeorgiaVirtue.com contacted CCSO regarding the filing of a request. Staff provided the contact and email address to send the request and TGV emailed the request the same day. The following day, the records custodian replied that the office would not be filling requests and all requests should go through the county portal.
Historically, the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office has handled its own Open Records Requests as evidenced by the lacking option to select ‘Sheriff’s Office’ matters on the Chatham County Government Open Records portal.
It is the norm for Sheriff’s Offices, established on a constitutional basis, to handle their own records. This is the case in Appling, Bryan, Bulloch, Butts, Candler, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Jenkins, Laurens, Long, McIntosh, Screven, Tattnall, Toombs, and Wayne counties, among others.
The process presents an issue for a number of reasons, to include timeliness and compliance with the law. OCGA § 50-18-71(b)(1)(A) requires that a response time of three business days be met.
To date, records in possession of Chatham County government have been provided within the three day window and records in the custody of the Sheriff’s Office have been provided well beyond the three-day window or, worse, not at all. A request filed on November 17 for a mere list of individuals assigned to a single unit within the Sheriff’s Office has been outstanding with no records provided.
Additionally, the current set up relies on the honor system on the part of the county government when providing records. Since the Sheriff’s Office is the actual records custodian and the county government does not have direct access to those records, the county cannot be certain that all records have been provided in their entirety or that no additional records exist when they provide records for the Sheriff’s Office.
In a dispute over records, however, a complaint with the state or a lawsuit filed in court would still be against the Sheriff’s Office, not Chatham County, which would present a host of other issues.
The new process unnecessarily adds an administrative burden on those seeking public records while reducing the level of transparency previously offered.
