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to order halt to police department
Community Calendars |
By RICHARD HARRIS
(From the November 15, 2006 issue)
It wasn’t officially on the ballot, but the results of the recent election appear to have dire consequences for the Municipal Police Department of Cusseta-Chattahoochee County. Superior Court Judge Robert G. Johnston III used the election results as a reason to order the county to stop the creation of the department.
“In view of the vote in Chattahoochee County, it appears that the people, which is what I wanted, have spoken,” Judge Johnston wrote in his order. “That makes the defendant’s argument that I was legally in left field moot. I believe further steps to create a Police Department should be stopped.”
Two openly anti-police department candidates, Donald Moore and Gerald Douglas, were elected in convincing fashion over incumbents who supported the police department.
Moore defeated Chairman Larry Dillard, who in addition to supporting the police department had been very critical of Sheriff Glynn Cooper, in a landslide (72% to 28%) to claim the Post V seat.
For Post IV, voters gave the nod to a candidate, Walt Rosso, who said he would review the effectiveness of the police department after taking office.
While the judge has ordered the Commission to not take further steps to create a police
The Commission was scheduled to meet on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 1 p.m. to discuss the judge’s ruling, but details of the meeting were not available in time for this issue of the newspaper.
Joseph Waldrep, an attorney who represents the Commission in the case, said on Tuesday that he believed the ruling should be overturned, but the Commission had not decided whether to appeal.
“We do not believe Judge Johnston’s ruling is legally sound,” said Waldrep. “It is more of an expression of his personal feelings about the effects of an election rather than a legal ruling on any of the issues raised by the parties. Since when did the interpretation of political results become the basis for legal rulings?”
Attorney Richard Hagler, who represents Sheriff Cooper, has been in court in Macon and was unavailable to comment on the recent ruling.
Background
Prior to the election, Sheriff Cooper had sued the Commission, requesting additional funds for his office after his budget was drastically cut at the same time that funding was made for a new police department. Sheriff Cooper said the Commission was not providing him with enough funding for him to carry out his constitutionally required duties.
In a hearing on the lawsuit about 1-½ months ago, Judge Johnston had instructed the Commission to give the sheriff enough money to “keep the store open,” but didn’t give a specific amount of money.
In that same hearing, the judge also heard statements from the Commission’s attorney, as well as Attorney Hagler, who also represents a group of local residents who filed suit to stop the formation of the police department. They believe state law requires the Commission to hold a referendum on the subject. The Commission counter-argued that voters had recently voted for a charter that gave the local government the authority to establish a police department, so a separate vote was not required.
Judge Johnston at that time did not make a ruling on the case about the police department. He also said that he would like for the Georgia Supreme Court to look at the issue.
Update: Since the article above was published, the Commission voted to appeal the judge's order. Voting to appeal were: Larry Dillard, Ben Miller, James Morton. Wade Coleman cast the lone "no" vote. Sonny Smith was abesent.