Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has appointed a three-person commission to review an indictment against Cobb Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor.
Taylor was indicted last month by a Cobb grand jury with two counts of destroying government records and two counts of violating her oath of office related to her office’s handling of passport fees.
An executive order signed by Kemp on Thursday gave the commission 14 days to provide a written report recommending whether Taylor should be suspended from office while her legal case proceeds.
The commission will be asked to determine if the indictment affects Taylor’s ability to carry out her duties and if “the rights and interests of the public are adversely affected” by the indictment as a result.
Superior Court clerks in Georgia oversee the management of court documents and records, including real estate transactions, and are elected constitutional officers on a partisan basis.
The commission members selected by Kemp are Keith Blackwell, a retired Georgia Supreme Court justice, and two county court clerks, Tim Harper of Banks County and Rhett Walker of Dodge County. Blackwell served in a non-partisan position, while Harper and Walker are both Democrats.
Taylor, a Democrat first elected in 2020, was indicted July 31 after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation conducted a probe into the matter following allegations that Taylor tried to direct an employee to delete government e-mails and financial records in response to an open records request in late 2022.
Taylor had come under fire for personally pocketing $425,000 in passport fees, on top of her $170,000 annual salary.
Under state law, court clerks are allowed to personally keep such funds. But Rebecca Keaton, Taylor’s predecessor, forwarded some of those monies to the county’s general fund.
Maya Curry, who worked in the clerk’s office, said Taylor ordered her to destroy records about the passport application fees when The Atlanta Journal-Constitution filed an open records request seeking that information.
Curry’s allegations (you can read her attorney’s letter here) include a comment by Taylor that “we’re just going to Donald Trump this thing,” a reference to deleting any files or records that would be germane to an open records request.
The Attorney General’s Office is leading the legal proceedings after Cobb officials, including judges, recused themselves from the case.
Taylor has hired former Gov. Roy Barnes to represent her.
She could be suspended by Kemp without pay upon a recommendation of the review commission. If she is convicted, Taylor would be removed from office, and she would be reinstated if acquitted.
Taylor is facing an arraignment in Superior Court on Sept. 2.
Related:
- Cobb Superior Court Clerk indicted for destroying records
- Cobb Juvenile Court administrator receives national award
- Cobb judge receives award from Young Lawyers Division
- East Cobb woman released by ICE; husband still detained
- East Cobb couple detained by ICE; son fights for their release
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Really sad to see Barnes representing a woman who first chose to line her own pockets but then to try to delete files ….I think the employees can run the office without that type of ‘leadership’……if you can call it that……
So very sad to see what is happening in Cobb County~