Q&A on the News

Q: Nathan Deal appointed a committee to investigate the arrest of DeKalb County Sheriff Jeffrey Mann. Is this normal? I do not recall the governor getting involved like this when Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill had his legal problems. –Gene Turner, Atlanta

A: After Mann was charged with indecency and obstruction after police say he exposed himself in Piedmont Park on May 6, the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association sent Deal a letter calling for an investigation. Deal issued an executive order appointing a three-person committee to investigate the charges.

GSA Executive Director Terry Norris told 11Alive News that the GSA has submitted the letters only a handful of times, in his 22 years with the association. He said it’s a way by law to delve into county law enforcement’s “irregularities in behavior.”

In November 2012, the GSA asked Deal to call for a similar investigation into Hill, after he was indicted on multiple felony charges, for actions he was accused of taking while serving as Clayton County sheriff from 2005-08. Hill lost re-election in 2008. The indictments followed in early 2012 after he had left office. Those charges had not been resolved when Hill ran and won the sheriff ’s election later that year.

The GSA had asked the governor to initiate the committee process as soon as Hill was re-instated as sheriff in January 2013. Deal decided against calling for an investigative panel.

“Deal has concluded that the law outlining the procedures for the suspension of public officials under indictment applies only to officials indicted while holding their elected office,” according to a 2013 statement from the governor’s office. Hill was a private citizen at the time of his indictment. Hill was cleared of charges in August 2013.