A Douglas County Grand Jury indicted three elected officials for bid rigging.
DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. - The FOX 5 I-Team has learned three elected officials in Douglas County accused of bid rigging will get at least some of their legal fees paid by the county.
Commission Chair Romona Jackson Jones, Commissioner Henry Mitchell and Tax Commissioner Greg Baker are three of the five people indicted last week.
The indictment accuses them of fixing a bid for a cleaning contract so that it would go to a political supporter.
Henry Mitchell and Greg Baker
Jackson Jones was also indicted for making a false statement to the GBI.
A policy updated in November 2022 okayed paying an additional $25,000 for an employee’s legal fees above what is covered by the county insurance policy.
All three elected officials and former purchasing director Bill Peacock will have at least their initial legal fees paid by Douglas County.
If the claim is not covered, Douglas County could pay $75,000 in legal fees for each employee. "The Board of Commissioners may by resolution approve payment of a higher amount on a case-by-case basis," the policy says.
"The assumption is that one accused of something like that, would be innocent until proven otherwise," explained county attorney Michael Coleman at an October 2022 commission meeting.
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Douglas County paying 'initial legal fees' for indicted officials
The FOX 5 I-Team has learned three elected officials in Douglas County accused of bid rigging will get at least some of their legal fees paid by the county.
The policy was updated after commissioners had already reimbursed Probate Judge Christina Peterson $44,000 in legal fees fighting efforts by the Judicial Qualifications Commission to suspend her from office.
That’s a civil case. The three elected officials are accused of committing at least one felony.
County attorney Michael Coleman said the policy allows Douglas County to be reimbursed for legal fees if the defendants are ultimately convicted.
This week, county attorney Coleman told the FOX 5 I-Team, "I have requested small initial retainers be paid to their lawyers to make sure that the accused are not without counsel during these preliminary stages. Any such payments by the County will be submitted to insurance for reimbursement."
White collar crime attorney expert Jessica Cino said this is not a common practice.
"I would say that’s atypical," she said. "Generally we say that doesn’t look good optically."
Cino thought paying some legal fees would be acceptable up to arraignment which would likely cost the county a few thousand dollars at most.
The new policy did include some conditions where the county would not pay.
"If the Claim involves allegations of theft, dishonesty, embezzlement, or other like crimes with respect to the property or money of or in which the County has an interest."
Cino said the indictments clearly fall under those categories, and she could understand why some taxpayers might be upset.
"Sure, they’re there to serve the public," she said. "So learning that the very people that you’ve entrusted to serve your community, your county are getting some of their legal fees fronted to them, people are going to be very upset by that."
The policy does require the defendant pay back any legal fees if they are eventually convicted of the crime.
Cleaning contractor Anthony Knight will apparently have to cover his own legal bills.
Former purchasing director Bill Peacock and cleaning company owner Anthony Knight face the same bid-rigging charge.
According to Coleman, the county’s insurance police would also cover Peacock’s legal fees.
Governor Brian Kemp must wait 14 days from the indictment to appoint a committee to review each case for each elected official. Members would then have 14 days to recommend whether there should be suspensions until trial.
All five defendants have been ordered to turn themselves in by March 10. Bond is already set for each at $20,000.