Ex-Hall County solicitor Stephanie Woodard could lose her law license
Former Hall County Solicitor-General Stephanie Woodard pleaded guilty last month to one misdemeanor count, after facing 24 felony counts accusing her of misusing public funds. (Hall County Sheriff's Office)
Atlanta - Stephanie Woodard can’t serve as a Hall County top prosecutor anymore. But should she still be a licensed attorney?
That’s a question soon to be in front of the Georgia Supreme Court.
The longtime Solicitor-General faced multiple felony charges of spending public dollars on personal expenses, in one case charging taxpayers to cremate a family pet.
In a deal reached with the state Attorney General’s office last month, she pleaded guilty to just one misdemeanor count of unprofessional conduct, with a sentence of 12 months’ probation that may be suspended upon payment of $2,219 in restitution.
Woodard also agreed to resign from office.
Stephanie Woodard, standing at right, pleaded guilty Aug. 30 before Hall County Superior Court visiting Judge David T. Emerson. (FOX 5)
But there may be another public hearing ahead.
The State Bar of Georgia confirmed that Woodard’s plea deal has already triggered Bar rules for dealing with attorneys convicted of felonies or misdemeanors involving moral turpitude. The Bar will ask the Georgia Supreme Court to appoint a special master, who will hold a hearing, then make a recommendation to the state Supreme Court. The Supreme Court can accept that recommendation or make its own ruling.
The State Bar of Georgia, headquartered on Marietta Street in downtown Atlanta, has launched a disciplinary process to decide if former Hall County Solicitor-General Stephanie Woodard should keep her law license. (FOX 5)
The process could see Woodard's law license suspended, or it could lead to disbarment, stripping her ability to practice law in Georgia. It could also end with no discipline at all.
Former Hall County Solicitor-General Stephanie Woodard pleaded guilty to one count of unprofessional conduct, a misdemeanor, with a sentence of 12 months' probation. (FOX 5)
"I think it'd be very difficult, in a situation like this, to get out without a suspension," former State Bar president Lester Tate told the I-Team. "On the other hand, it's a crime that could easily lead to disbarment."
Woodard, through her attorney, declined to comment for this story.
Morally wrong or technically wrong?
Tate predicts her status as an attorney could boil down to a moral turpitude question – whether the court decides Woodard did something dishonest or unethical, which violated the public trust; or if the court decides her misdeeds amounted to no more unprofessionalism, as she admitted, a mere violation of the letter of the law.
Cartersville attorney and former State Bar of Georgia president Lester Tate told the I-Team he predicts Stephanie Woodard will at least have her law license suspended. (FOX 5)
"I think it will be an aggravating factor that she was a public official and that these were public funds," Tate said. "This was not some private transaction between her and someone else."
In Hall County Superior Court last month, Woodard pleaded guilty to the law’s prohibitions of malpractice, misfeasance, malfeasance in office, and demanding more money than an official is entitled to.
It was far less than the 24 felonies she faced in a blistering criminal indictment handed down in June, accusing her of repeatedly stealing from taxpayers.
The charges pointed to much of the same misspending revealed in a FOX 5 I-Team investigation in 2022, which found her pilfering office funds meant to help victims and witnesses; sticking taxpayers with cremating her family dog; buying earbuds, headphones and pillows; shopping for antiques; paying for a prep course for someone’s law school admission exam; and being reimbursed twice for expenses at a prosecutors’ conference on Jekyll Island.
Hall County Solicitor Stephanie Woodard
In all, the indictment accused her of bilking nearly $4,200. Under the plea deal, though, her criminal court records have been sealed.
‘A higher standard’
A blogger who lives in Gwinnett County heard about Woodard's sweetheart deal through a post on X. He told the I-Team he thought the regulating body that licenses and disciplines attorneys ought to know about it.
"I’m just trying to make good trouble," said Peter Heimlich, who blogs at The-Sidebar.com. "So I took the press release from the Attorney General and just copied it into a complaint and filed it."
It turned out, the Bar already knew, telling Heimlich in an email they're "proceeding with an investigation and prosecution."
The process will generate a new set of public records in the Supreme Court’s disciplinary docket.
Peter Heimlich, a blogger who lives in Peachtree Corners, filed a Bar complaint about Stephanie Woodard, only to learn the Bar had already launched an investigation. (FOX 5)
"I think it's important to hold public officials to a higher standard than the rest of us," Heimlich said. "If my complaint contributed to that and added to the record, I'm delighted."
The I-Team has asked Attorney General Chris Carr to explain why he agreed to such a downgrading of charges against a public official, but he has yet to respond to interview requests.
Hall County Solicitor Stephanie Woodard with Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.
An AG’s office spokeswoman sent a statement in writing: "In this case as with all others, we followed the law, the facts, and the evidence to ensure justice for all Georgians. By securing this outcome, Attorney General Carr ensured that Mrs. Woodard enter a guilty plea for her crime, pay back the money she stole, resign from office, and serve 12 months of probation."
She also provided a list of other public officials pursued criminally by Carr’s office, including former Board of Regents member Dean Alford, former Paulding County District Attorney Dick Donovan, former Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Mark Jones, and former Pickens County Chief Magistrate Judge William Wigington.