Read Part 1 – Interview with Commissioner Ray Davis
Read Part 2 – Interview with Clay & Megen Conner, owners of Sand Creek Land Construction
Read Part 3 – Interview with Bulloch County Public Works Employees
Read Part 4 – Interview with Commission Chairman David Bennett
Read Part 5 – Interview with Commissioner Timmy Rushing
Complete Timeline Below Simmons audio
GBI Interview with Commissioner Anthony Simmons
0:58 – Agent Jones explains to Simmons what he’s investigating and asks some general questions about Simmons’ 32-year tenure.
2:12 – Jones asks if Simmons has any familiarity with Sand Creek. Simmons replies that Clay Conner has “always come to the county’s rescue when needed.” He says Sand Creek was available when they “couldn’t get any other companies to help us out.” Simmons says with regard to discrepancies or false invoices, he doesn’t know anything. He then begins talking about Public Works Director Dink Butler.
3:15 – Simmons talks about Commissioner Toby Conner ‘voting on stuff’ but says Conner “was a new commissioner…He voted, I think, maybe twice, maybe twice. But after he found out, he didn’t vote anymore. I would charge it to him not knowing, but that was it.”
3:45 – Agent Jones turns the conversations to the invoices themselves. Simmons said he trusted Dink Butler to make sure the information was correct.
4:04 – Simmons refers to the most recent election.
“We had some new commissioners come on and it was a nasty election and we’ve got this faction out there who wanna wipe out the whole board and I know, and that’s what they campaigned on, get rid of the whole board. It all started with the Hyundai plant and we put in wells and we were gonna be giving water to Bryan County that was gonna be supplying water to the Hyundai plant. Well, the governor’s gonna give us…I mean, we get $2 million out of it for the citizens of Bulloch County. The folks that the wells was gonna be drilled in is up here around Brooklet and stuff. They didn’t want that, which is stupid.
Long story short – they didn’t want it because it’s gonna bring in more people. They got their little old pie in heaven up there, they didn’t want people who didn’t look like them to come in and interrupt their pie in the sky.
They didn’t want people to come in where people like, who look like me, who may be able to get better jobs up there, that’s what it all was about.”
“And they were just nasty, man, and they set out to find any little thing to blame on the commissioners and that’s just one thing that they caught. I mean, they talk about me like a dog.”
6:30 – Simmons begins talking about the First Friday event hosted by the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority (though he referred to the entity as ‘the city’) that resulted in a settlement agreement between Bulloch Action Coalition and the DSDA over First Amendment concerns. Simmons says he called them out about not donating money from the settlement, which he referred to as a ‘lawsuit,’ to the animal shelter.
“It’s just that little group. It ain’t about helping, it’s about basically revenge.”
8:10 – Simmons says he has an election coming up and he knows they’ll be after him because he calls them out.
8:37 – Simmons says in 32 years of being a politician, he has never talked badly about anyone and he only talks about the facts. “I don’t talk about nobody’s family, I don’t talk about anything, I mean, you know, I can disagree with you, but I’m not gonna be nasty. I’ma be respectful and I’m gonna talk about the facts. I ain’t gonna make up stuff.”
9:20 – Simmons says he’s never known of Dink Butler doing anything illegal. He again says Toby Conner voted [for the issues related to his brother], because he was a new commissioner (elected in 2022) and “maybe he missed the classes” on it. “But once he was told, he ain’t voted no more.”
10:10 – Simmons said he didn’t even know Clay Conner was Toby Conner’s brother.
10:55 – Simmons said there are only two minorities on the Board.
“My partner Ray, they tried to throw some stuff on him. He just got re-elected. This man, this man, he can walk on water as far as I’m concerned.” He said he’s never seen Mosley get angry and he’s always looking on the good side. “He’s always kicking me up under the table cause I wanna choke somebody sometimes.”
12:50 – “These people now, they’re ruthless now. They’re ruthless.”
13:00 – Discussion turns to whether or not the issue is errors due to an inability to acclimate to the position (referring to Toby Conner), but there is no intentional misconduct.
13:30 – Discussion turns to former Commissioner Walter Gibson who took his trailer out to the work camp and wanted Dink Butler to work on it and Dink said he couldn’t.
“You have to know Walter though. He tries [laughing] to slip in on anything…Walter, if you invite him to a dinner, he’s gonna put donuts in his pocket and walk out the door. But that’s just Walter.”
15:00 – Discussion turns to Simmons’ previous work in home health where he carried a case load in Screven County and carried a pistol, even though he wasn’t supposed to do so. “Y’all got some folk over there,” Simmons said.
Listen to full audio file
Case Timeline
Friday, February 28, 2025 – Commissioner Ray Davis contacts District Attorney Robert Busbee.
Friday, February 28, 2025 – District Attorney Robert Busbee requests assistance from the GBI after receiving information from a concerned resident. The letter says Busbee was notified of concerns regarding 1) bidding, and 2) an unnamed county commissioner, and) a county employee named “Dink Butler.”
Tuesday, March 4, 2025 – Bulloch County Commissioners hold their regular meeting. The issue of invoices and Sand Creek Land Construction are discussed during the public comment portion of the meeting. Meeting can be viewed here.
Wednesday, March 5, 2025 – 8:45 a.m – GBI Interviews Commissioner Ray Davis. Listen to his interview here.
Wednesday, March 5, 2025 – 1:31 p.m. – GBI Interviews Clay & Megen Conner Listen to the interview here.
Thursday, March 6, 2025 – 8:53 a.m. – GBI Interviews Public Works Director Dink Butler & Asst. Public Works Director Robert Seamans. Listen to the interview here.
Chairman David Bennett Date of interview unclear – Listen to interview here.
GBI Interviews Commissioner Timmy Rushing – Date of interview unclear – Listen to interview here.
Commissioner Anthony Simmons Date of interview unclear.
Commissioner Nick Newkirk [Interview date not listed on audio recording or in case file. Time ~8:25 a.m. (based on interview end time)]
GBI Interviews Commissioner Ray Mosley [Interview date not listed on audio recording or in case file. Time 9:53 p.m. (based on interview end time)]
Monday, March 10, 2025 – GriceConnect breaks the news that there is a GBI investigation. TheGeorgiaVirtue also notes an active GBI investigation in an article about the ethical concerns about Commissioner Toby Conner voting on the approval of funding for work completed by his brother.
GBI Interviews Commissioner Toby Conner [date not listed but comments from agent in the audio indicate it occurred after the month of March]. Time 10:06 a.m (based on interview end time) ]
No one else was interviewed by the GBI, but in July, the GBI does interview Clay Conner a second time.
April 11, 2025 – The District Attorney’s Office notifies PAC that the GBI investigation, which is still ongoing, will create a conflict for his office. The DA’s office did not formally ‘conflict out’ because the office did not receive the case file since Busbee notified PAC while the investigation was ongoing. The GBI does not forward its eventual findings to the Ogeechee Circuit DA’s office and instead consults with PAC.
Monday, July 14, 2025 – Clay Conner and his attorney submit a proffer to the GBI and Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of Georgia which prohibits the use of the content of Conner’s interview in any criminal or civil proceeding against him so long as the content is truthful and complete. The fact that the proffer has been made is also prohibited from being used in any criminal or civil proceeding against Clay Conner. Read the proffer. A copy of the document signed by the prosecutor in the case is available here.
Tuesday, August 19, 2025 – Conner and his attorney appear at the Bulloch County Commission meeting. Conner’s attorney, Jim Durham, tells the commissioners his client has been treated unfairly and that Conner voluntarily sat down with the GBI with all of the information about his business. Read the story.
Wednesday, Aug 20, 2025 – The Executive Director of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council signs an order appointing a District Attorney Pro Tem to handle the case. (Note: This is when the order was signed, but PAC was handling the case prior to this date because the PAC prosecutor is referenced in the case file prior to this date and Busbee notified PAC of the potential conflict on April 11, 2025.)
Wednesday, Aug 20, 2025 – The Prosecuting Attorney’s Council pens a letter to the GBI stating, “Based on your findings and our analysis of the case, there is no readily provable criminal intent, and the case is declined.” Read the story.
Thursday, Aug 21, 2025 – TheGeorgiaVirtue filed an Open Records Request for the complete case file. The GBI replies the same day to report that the case is still open and pending and, therefore, the records are not available. View the email response from the GBI indicating that the file was not subject to release.
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2025 – TheGeorgiaVirtue again files an Open Records Request for the complete case file. [Documented in response from GBI here]
Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025 – The GBI replies with the cost estimate for the case file and states the file will be ready on or before November 19, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. (Not a typo on the part of TGV, the GBI invoice lists the completion date as more than one year from the date of request. View the email response from the GBI.)
Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 – The GBI file is provided to TheGeorgiaVirtue. It notes that some personally identifiable information was redacted during preparation of the file, as is permitted under the Georgia Open Records Act.[View the email dated October 3 indicating that the case file is available for download]
