This article has been updated to include a statement from the Burke County Board of Commissioners.
Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams is asking Governor Brian Kemp to intervene in an ongoing dispute between the Burke County Sheriff’s Office and county commissioners.
According to a letter sent to county commissioners on March 24, the letter and other documents were sent to Kemp on March 17. Williams notified commissioners of his contact with the Governor’s Office with a memo reading “PLEASE PAY OUR PAST DUE BILLS. CRITICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES ARE AT RISK.”
Williams cited $93,000 in outstanding debts owed to Jefferson, Jenkins, Screven, and Washington counties for inmate housing. He said neighboring sheriffs have exhausted their resources, including personbel, overtime, and food.
“We have the means to rectify this financial burden. A total of $600,000 has been earned and awarded to our office from the school zone speed cameras, which could be utilized to pay off our outstanding debts. However, the Commission is exercising undue control over how the Sheriff, a constitutional officer, allocates funds within his budget. this mismanagement of authority is not only blatantly illegal, but is detrimental to our financial health and is endangering public safety,” Williams wrote in his letter to Commissioners on Monday.
The school zone speed cameras have been a hot button issue, particularly in Burke County, as Williams has drawn ire for the process in which the cameras were approved.
Additionally, at the March 11, 2025 county commission meeting, the Sheriff’s Office asked commissioners to approve funding for several items, to be paid for from the school zone speed camera fund, to include:
- a dunking booth for community outreach events
- Impairment simulated goggles
- a community outreach mascot
- a metal carport
- traffic cones
Commissioners declined to approve any of the requests.
Williams also lamented the need for bills to be paid for Flock cameras, iCloud storage and retrieval, GPS data for in-car terminals, and taser data storage and retrieval. He provided a host of communication from the Sheriff’s Office over the last few years, but did not include any invoices or receipts.
In his letter to Governor Kemp, Williams outlined seven ‘serious’ concerns, including:
- the underfunding of the Sheriff’s Office
- direct restriction placed on Williams’ authority to hire deputies
- the commission’s refusal to pay invoices for inmate housing in other counties
- the commission’s denial of a request to purchase body worn cameras for deputy jailers.
- the neglect of medical care of inmates
- the commission’s failure to adhere to ministerial guidelines that ‘ensure human treatment for employees and inmates, exposing them to unnecessary violence and abuse.’
- disregard of written notices regarding 1-6
“It has become increasingly clear that the commission is engaging in gross negligence and abuse of power that severely impacts the functioning of the Sheriff’s Office and, by extension, the safety and well-being of the citizens of Burke County,” Williams wrote in his letter to Kemp.
Commissioners offered a statement Monday afternoon in response to Williams’ call for Kemp to look into Burke County:
“The Board of Commissioners has received a copy of Sheriff Williams letter to Governor Kemp and we welcome his review of the County’s funding for the Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center. We believe that anyone can plainly see that Burke County has a well-funded Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center. We would welcome the Governor and Attorney General to look into the operations of the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.”
It is unclear what actions Williams wants Kemp to take because, like Williams, the county commissioners are duly elected constitutional officers.
You can read the letters to commissioners and to Kemp in the document below.
