A Message From Sheriff Chris Houston ---
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Over the past 17 months, the Greene County Board of Commissioners and I have been in a legal dispute over the legality of the creation of a special tax district to fund the Office of Sheriff. I was advised by many legal authorities that this action would be in contrary to the Georgia Constitution. For that reason, I chose to challenge the creation of such, believing that it would be illegal for the Board of Commissioners to create such a funding mechanism. On August 28th, 2009, Chief Superior Court Judge William A. Prior, Jr, declared the actions of the Greene County Board of Commissioners in creating a special tax district to be contrary to law and ordered that action void. The Commissioners and the current county attorney chose to appeal this decision.
On July 12th, 2010 all Justices concurred as the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the ruling made by Judge Prior and stated that …“The duties of sheriffs are beyond the control of the county governing bodies, and those bodies may not interfere with such duties….And, this Court has previously stated that ‘the office of sheriff is specifically exempt from Home Rule.” Warren v. Walton, 231 Ga. 495, 499 (202SE2d 405) (1973). See the decision below for more on this ruling.
This was a very difficult case, having said this; I am heartened by the Supreme Court’s decision that will have far-reaching and positive affects on the autonomy of all constitutional offices in Georgia. On behalf of all the citizens of Greene County, I pledge to work with all county officials to address their concerns. I would like to express my gratitude to all of the citizens for supporting me in this matter and to my attorney, Brenda Trammell of Madison. I am pleased that both the Superior Court and the Supreme Court of Georgia agreed with our position in this matter and now all sheriffs through out the state of Georgia will remain independent of the political pressures of their own governing authorities.
Superior Court Ruling on Special Tax District in favor of Sheriff Houston
GA Supreme Court Upholds Ruling on the Special Tax District in favor of Sheriff Houston
GA Court of Appeals upholds Superior Court Ruling in favor of Sheriff Houston regarding the commissioners efforts to misuse the discovery process in the law suit over the Sheriff's policy on take-home patrol cars.