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
Read Part 6 – Interview with Commissioner Anthony Simmons
Read Part 7 – Interview with Commissioners Ray Mosley & Nick Newkirk
GBI Interview with Commissioner Toby Conner
1:15 Agent Jones begins the interview and explains the scope of the investigation. He asks if Conner has any overall thoughts he would like to share.
1:47 – Conner shares the basis of some of the misconceptions of what is actually going on and raises concerns about why the District Attorney did not approach and ask the questions himself. He then begins his timeline with Tropical Storm Debby and the need to haul rock in because the stock was running low. He says he told Dink Butler that if the storm hits the way it it’s expected to, many counties will be looking for rock and it will be hard to get it. He says he told Dink Butler to go ahead and look into get some rock hauled.
“My brother was one of the ones contacted about hauling rock, he’s done work for the county in the past and it was not like we could go out for a bidding process because as it was, it turned into an emergency, but it was an emergency before that we was trying to be proactive for so, you know, I don’t know where he went and got prices for, that’s his department.”
5:00 – Conner explains that he has nothing to do with his brother’s business and that the relationship between Clay Conner and the county predates his time as a county commissioner.
5:20 – The discussion moves to the bidding procedures. Agent Jones asks Conner if he received any pushback from constituents at the time, and Conner replies that he received ‘a lot of praise’ for thinking ahead to make sure Bulloch County had the rock.
6:20 – “Do I think that Clay took obligation that because his brother is county commissioner to go out and do this and not take, and maybe take cuts from where he was at, yeah I think. And that runs in the family, we do everything, we try to do everything together, if that’s what your brother’s doing…if my brother was a preacher, I’d go to his church.”
7:20 – Conner tells Agent Jones he thinks his brother did a great job and he didn’t see anything wrong. “I actually thought that this would be a feather in his cap and it has turned out that it has done nothing but run his business down, so unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished.”
7:40 – Agent Jones asks about invoices and whether or not commissioners are given advance notice about what they will be voting on in the commission meetings. He then asks if there is much of a deliberation.
8:10 – Conner shares that a lot of people that put the agenda together didn’t put 2 and 2 together. He said in the beginning, he recused himself from voting on things involving Sand Creek but later on, “some of the older commissioners and the county attorney said, “It’s not a contract, it’s a bid. You don’t have to recuse yourself., which found out later on that that may not be completely true. I didn’t go back and study it. The work was already done. It was a bill, and to me, it was kind of common sense. I’m not a commissioner that sits there on his hands and wants to recuse from everything. I’m put up there to make decisions for the county and wrong, right, or indifferent, that’s what I intend to do.”
Conner then says “Maybe it was an oversight by me to create that confusion.”
9:10 – Conner says he started recusing himself again. “Mr. Newkirk was just sworn in or wasn’t long sworn in and he had an issue with it and I never followed up with that issue. He called me, told me that, and I said ‘That’s no problem’ and I have recused myself ever since.”
9:36 – Conner said the old commissioners didn’t have a problem with it and the attorney didn’t have a problem with it. “But, Mr. Newkirk did, so in light of that, that’s no problem.”
10:10 – Agent Jones asked Conner if any of his constituents had voiced any kind of concern regarding the invoices for Sand Creek or if the investigation came out of the blue.
10:40 – “When Cassandra Mikell brought it up, it was straight out the blue. I ain’t heard nothing about it. And of course then TheGeorgiaVirtue took it and everything else and where they got their information from, I’m not sure. Like I said, I don’t even know where they get the information they put in the Statesboro Herald the other day because I hadn’t been told anything and Clay hasn’t. But since that day, it’s been, we don’t know anything other than what I’ve been told.”
11:30 Agent Jones again asks about the separation between Clay Conner’s business and Toby Conner’s involvement, or lack thereof. Conner shared that his brother experienced hardships and then built the company from scratch so perhaps he felt like the Good Lord gave him enough and he felt like he could come help the county. He says they have the same shop and he knows how many trucks he has, but he doesn’t know how many leased trucks he using at any given time or where they’re going.
12:40 – Agent Jones inquires about Toby Conner’s professional relationship with Dink Butler. Conner says he didn’t really know Dink until he became a county commissioner.
13:18 – Conner states that Butler has been put in some ‘precarious situations’ in the last three years, especially with storms. He says he and Butler have had arguments about things, but he has not witnessed any misconduct or criminal activity.
14:38 – Agent Jones explains to Conner that the Sand Creek invoices are not as detailed as other invoices submitted by other companies. Jones asked if Conner’s constituents raised concerns about that. Conner replies “No, because those invoices wasn’t as detailed but the detail, that’s what we’ve been working off of the same company for a while.”
Jones asks if there is a standard for invoice information and Conner replies that there is “if an eyebrow is raised.” Conner says both parties (the county and Sand Creek) had invoices and tickets, but the tickets weren’t attached (when the tickets were provided to county commissioners).
15:50 – Conner says there wasn’t an issue before he [Clay Conner] just carried on like before. “I think it could have been done in a different manner if they had a question about it, they could have certainly asked for it cause it was certainly on file.”
16:35 – Conner asks says an Open Records Request was filed the same day or the day after Jones was at his brother’s office. “So why didn’t we just do an Open Records Request to start with? You know what I’m getting at there?”
16:57 – Agent Jones asks if he has ever observed his brother engage in criminal activity. He then states that Clay Conner and his wife stated they are trying to upgrade how they do things and have “since put things in place,” to which Toby Conner replied, “Oh they have.”
17:25 – Conner says “For every storm that came through in the last three years, the equipment that has been clearing those roads around that shop have been my brother’s equipment. It’s so good that, I’m a commissioner now, that the Sheriff provides me a radio in case they can’t get out of town or get out of shelter.” Conner says people are getting more than what they’re seeing.
18:25 – “It’s a shame that people that have nothing to offer can cause this kind of confusion on people that give everything,” Conner said.
18:30 – Agent Jones asks about the discrepancies and how Clay Conner was running his business. “Is it possible, that if there is any discrepancies, that it might be a simple mistake?”
Conner says, “Oh, I’m certain,” before he explains all the ways things could be miscalculated or tabulated.
19:55 – The discussion turns to intentional mistakes. “Nothing intentional,” Conner says. “Is there human error? I would imagine.” Conner then says if there was any error on money that went out, the county paid the bill. “So, all in all, it’s the county’s fault.”
22:25 – Agent Jones says he has no other questions and asks if Conner has any questions for him. Conner says he’s at his wits end with the process. “I never thought that the county could treat people this way, but I live and learn and I’ve been through the fire with this county…”
23:40 – Conner says he believes in karma and good deeds will be returned, but that this has been heartbreaking. Agent Jones apologizes for calling his brother and Conner acknowledges that he [Jones] had a job to do.
24:15 – Agent Jones mentions the ‘unnecessary scrutiny’ that attaches to some of the GBI’s cases. Conner says this isn’t what ‘they’re after,’ but instead they’re after him and this is the only way they can get to him.
24:55 – Conner says no matter how the investigation turns out, he and his brother have no regrets. “If there is something wrong, it’s nothing but human error.”
Listen to the audio interview
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. Listen to interview here.
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]
