When The Augusta Press launched in 2021, every attempt was made to have a positive relationship with local government and law enforcement, including the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office; however, from day one they were combative. It has been painfully clear they had zero desire even to acknowledge our existence.
It wasn’t until our first open records lawsuit was filed against his office that the sheriff finally was forced into compliance with the law.
The sheriff’s lack of transparency isn’t surprising considering the lawyer who interprets the sunshine laws for him. Randy Frails of Frails & Wilson has been locked in to be Roundtree’s lawyer since the first campaign contribution check was cashed. Frails is now seeking to become the lawyer for the Richmond County Board of Education, a move that would greatly hinder transparency in that agency.
I never thought it was a coincidence that two months after beginning publication the sheriff launched “Car One to Dispatch,” a YouTube public relations initiative to try and make the department look engaged with average citizens. The sheriff made one miscalculation, and that was assuming that the Press would not use the Open Records Act to dig into the raw footage and cost of the videos.
If you ask the sheriff, I am sure he would say the PR stunt was a success. Some of the videos had a few interesting clips; however the 10 videos released declined in viewership from 5,700 to 2,100 total views when the videos stopped over a year ago.
Now the sheriff’s office has a new PR stunt – A podcast that can be viewed on YouTube. Taxpayers can only hope that former mayor Hardie Davis’s sound and video equipment are being recycled by the sheriff.
Rather than use the media to promote the podcast and drive awareness, the sheriff launched the podcast two months ago with little fanfare, only posting about it on social media. The first edition had just over 500 views, and now the most recent ninth edition has been viewed 139 times (at the time this column was written). The most recent video features Chief Deputy Patrick Clayton.
The video is the equivalent of drinking a warm glass of milk before bed while watching old episodes of Matlock. If you run out of sleeping pills, this podcast could be a suitable substitute. Avoid the aggravation and just skip to 15 minutes in when Clayton jumps on The Augusta Press, attacking its claims that the sheriff isn’t being transparent.
“He is one of the most transparent sheriffs I have ever seen of any agency,” Clayton said. Coffee almost spewed out my nose as I listened.
The ironic thing is that Clayton indicates that his introduction of body-worn cameras to the agency was an act of transparency. Perhaps he isn’t aware that the most recent lawsuit filed by The Augusta Press was for the sheriff’s office refusal to provide body camera footage. They don’t want to follow the law and release the video because it has been alleged that it will show a Richmond County deputy acted inappropriately in an incident involving an off-duty Burke County deputy. If you want to be transparent, Chief Clayton, release the video!
Clayton then takes a swipe at the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office for not using body cameras. The last thing the CCSO needs is to take law enforcement advice from the RCSO. Nevertheless Clayton, who has made it very clear he intends to retire this year and run for sheriff in Columbia County, wants to disparage a “sister agency” that has a far better track record. Rather than criticize he should be trying to understand how they have retained officers and a low crime rate.
Burke County’s sheriff got mentioned as well. Clayton seems to think that The Augusta Press is biased for not giving a lot of coverage to the scrutiny Sheriff Alfonzo Williams has been under. Clayton claims WRDW is the only news outlet providing coverage on that issue. While it’s true WRDW has been bullish and done a great job of covering the Burke County sheriff, the local Waynesboro newspaper, The True Citizen, has also run stories. Perhaps Clayton missed the fact that we are the “Augusta” press and not the “Waynesboro” press.
Actually, in fairness? The Augusta Press has covered some of the Burke County issues but just not to the degree WRDW has recently. Roundtree holds contempt for the Burke County Sheriff, which was made clear after emails surfaced of Roundtree forwarding images of a missing receipt affidavit with the phrase “Got Him” to everyone in the department.
Either way, Clayton’s droning ended with asking for them to be treated fairly. Funnily enough, the first lawsuit The Augusta Press won was for Roundtree’s refusal to treat us fairly.
A Letter to the Chief
Dear Chief Clayton, We thank you for subscribing to The Augusta Press and hope that we will continue to be your number one source for local news. It is my goal, as I stated to you personally in January 2021, that there be a positive and open relationship with your agency. The ball is in your court. If your boss would just follow the law and produce documents and videos that are subject to the Open Records Act, we would stop complaining about the lack of transparency.
Talking about transparency on a podcast is a lot different than actually being transparent. Perhaps you should consider inviting myself and others from the local media to discuss transparency on one of your future episodes. It should help promote the podcast and gain awareness. The dialogue could honor transparency. Perhaps Roundtree could even grace us with his presence.
Either way, should you decide to retire, we wish you the best in all of your endeavors. Please don’t let one of those endeavors be running for Columbia County Sheriff. If you decide to do that, we wish you the utmost of failure in your campaign. It’s nothing personal. I think I can safely speak for all law-abiding citizens of Columbia County when I say that we don’t want any policies, procedures or ideas on what transparency is corrupting what is one of the most well-run law enforcement agencies in the country. Simply put, there is nothing that Columbia County needs to learn from Richmond County on how law enforcement should be conducted.
That is all.
Augusta Press Publisher Joe Edge
