Attorneys for Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams say they’re withdrawing a motion to seal court documents and filing a writ of mandamus against the Burke County Commission.
The move could end a longstanding conflict over money in the county of around 25,000 people. Since he took office, Williams has struggled with the commission over control of his budget.
He’s made advances and cooperated with commissioners on some matters, but contends they continue to frustrate his efforts and risk harm by withholding vital funding.
The commission has responded with allegations of questionable spending and a lack of control, and has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to take a look.
A recent move by Williams was to file incident reports accusing commissioners and the county manager of violating their oaths of office.
A writ of mandamus could help set the record straight if a judge agrees. The writ is a court order compelling a government official to take or cease to take a specific action.
Attorneys for Williams, Shawn McCullers and Pierre Ifill, spoke at the news conference held at the sheriff’s office Thursday about their next steps.
McCullers said they asked to seal the court record to protect the county from more lawsuits, but withdrew the request after Burke objected.
He stressed that ultimate control and broad discretion is granted sheriffs over their budgets by the Georgia Constitution.
Because Georgia sheriffs are constitutional officers, a county “has no control over anything in the sheriff’s office,” McCullers said. The county’s “sole duty” is to approve the budget of a sheriff, not determine how it is spent, he said.
Furthermore, the commission’s beef with Williams is “personal,” Ifill said. “It has nothing to do with the office itself.”
Ifill gave the handful of reporters attending the news conference a stern warning.
“Intentional misinformation” has been spread about Williams, Ifill said. Those responsible should expect “all the legal redress” available. “We will sue them to the full extent of the law.”
Asked earlier Thursday to comment, Burke County officials said the sheriff’s office is “very well funded.” The office was budgeted some $12.9 million this year.
“The commission believes he is adequately funded and we expect him to stay within budget,” said Burke Commission Chairman Evans Martin. “It is unfortunate that the taxpayers of Burke County have to endure the burden of him suing the commissioners and the citizens.”
The case hasn’t been assigned to a judge and it won’t be assigned to one of the five Superior Court judges of the Augusta Circuit. Each of them recused themselves from the case last week.
In addition, District Attorney Jared Williams said he had a conflict of interest between his duties as prosecutor and involvement with the GBI probe and asked that two new prosecutors be assigned to the case.
Similar conflicts have played out elsewhere in Georgia. On Tuesday, Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat sued county officials over a purchasing policy he said infringed on his authority.
