The same day the sheriff of Long County made a social media post about his financial requests being misconstrued, he sent a demand letter to county commissioners demanding payments be made within 30 days to avoid facing formal legal action.
On April 20, Sheriff Craig Nobles took to the Long County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page to dispel what he said were inaccuracies stated during a county commission meeting. The same day, he sent a letter to county commissioners making formal demands for payment on a number of items.
In the six-page formal demand letter obtained by TheGeorgiaVirtue.com on Tuesday, Sheriff Craig Nobles notified county commissioners of his demand for immediate payment to fulfill his constitutional obligations as sheriff. Nobles wrote that their failure to disburse funds has impacted his ability to operate the office safely and effectively.
Nobles told commissioners in the letter that “absent full compliance with each demand set forth in [the] letter within thirty (30) days,” he will proceed “without further notice” to file a Petition for Writ of Mandamus Absolute in the Superior Court of Long County to compel the Board to pay the funds.
His requests included jail payments due to neighboring counties and equipment needs to monthly uniform allotments and requests for four new credit cards with limits of $10,000 each for use by the Sheriff’s Office.
Specifically, Nobles demanded the following:
Jail Payments totaling $138,070
- Tattnall County – $40,410
- Appling County – $15,210
- Screven County – $7,095
- Wayne County – $19,215
- McIntosh County – $56,140
Nobles said the jail payments must be paid in full and all future payments should be made in advance, but offered no framework for how the county should ‘estimate’ advance payments given that it is unclear how long each respective inmate will remain behind bars. He also stated that if the counties will not continue to house the inmates, he will not be able to enforce criminal laws.
In his letter, Nobles referenced a state law that allows the county to levy and collect an additional text to pay for meeting jail housing costs, suggesting that the county cannot simply state it does not have the funds.
Budgeted Items
| Ammunition | $8,600 |
| 25 body-worn cameras | $37,500 |
| 4 ballistic vests | $4,500 |
| 2 laptop computers for a patrol car | $6,800 |
| 1 desktop computer | $1,200 |
| 3 sets of patrol vehicle equipment @ $30,000/each | $90,000 |
| Safety Deposit Box @ Ludowici Bank | $40 |
| $100/month uniform allowance for each sworn deputy | $100 per month per sworn deputy – no deputy number listed |
| Outstanding credit card debt | $10,0000 |
| Training Funds | No amount listed |
| $158,640*Without considering $100/month per deputy and without no amount listed for training funds |
Credit Cards
Nobles made demands that the Board of Commissioners authorize four new credit cards for operational uses, three for the office generally and one for the jail, each with a $10,000 limit for a total of $40,000 in credit.
“The current two-card, $3,000-per-card arrangement is wholly inadequate for the operational demands of the Office,” he wrote. He did not clarify how much of the $10,000 currently owed on credit accounts is shared across credit cards and how much is on vendor in-house accounts.
County Funds Remain Low
The letter from Nobles follows a special-called meeting held Thursday, which Nobles did not attend, during which county commissioners voted against allocating $50,000 in funds at the request of the sheriff for jail invoices, due to the timing. Nobles contends that all of the items were approved in the FY 2026 budget, but county staff say the county does not have the funds to pay for even budgeted items.
County Manager Shane Richardson told commissioners during the meeting that the payment would force furloughs of 28 employees because the county would be unable to make payroll.
You can read more about Thursday’s meeting here.
You can read the full letter from Nobles below.
