Judges, DA, step aside from Burke County sheriff’s cases

WAYNESBORO, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - All Augusta Circuit Superior Court judges have disqualified themselves from the Burke County sheriff’s legal battle with county commissioners.

Meanwhile, District Attorney Jared Williams stepped aside from a separate criminal investigation of Sheriff Alfonzo Williams.

It’s not a huge surprise that the judges should recuse themselves, since they deal with the sheriff a lot and therefore could have a conflict of interest.

The sheriff’s legal battle against commissioners is a civil case. He’s filed a writ of mandamus lawsuit against them because he claims they and the county manager are illegally interfering with his budget decisions.

It hasn’t stopped there; he’s also indicated he wants to arrest them, even filing an incident report outlining their alleged offenses.

The criminal investigation of the sheriff is another matter entirely, but it’s also tied to the sheriff’s threat to arrest commissioners.

Although the sheriff claims in a May 19 incident report that he’s a victim of crimes committed by commissioners, the county attorney alleges the sheriff’s actions are a crime.

“A reasonable prosecutor could concur with this assessment,” the DA said Thursday, so he must recuse himself from the criminal investigation.

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That “preliminary inquiry” stemmed from a case the Georgia Bureau of Investigation opened two years ago on the sheriff at the request of the commissioners.

Not only will the DA step aside from that case but also from advising the sheriff’s office on the sufficiency of evidence and warrants, because that’s also a conflict of interest.

Since getting involved in the GBI investigation in March 2023, “my office separated the investigation of Sheriff Williams from the other duties to advise Burke County Sheriff’s Office on law enforcement action,” the DA said. “This is no longer possible after recent events.”

Contemplation of the sheriff’s May 19 actions as a crime “would likely impact the existing investigation and any prosecution that may result,” the DA said.

FULL STATEMENT FROM DA JARED WILLIAMS:

“To preserve the integrity of the investigation and any prosecution that may flow therefrom, I must declare a conflict of interest and request a new prosecutor be appointed,” the DA wrote. “To ensure Sheriff Williams can be advised as to the sufficiency of evidence and warrants relating to his incident report, I declare a conflict and request a separate prosecutor be appointed.”

Although the DA said he can’t discuss the criminal investigation against the sheriff, we know about a case against the sheriff that the GBI forwarded to the DA.

The GBI provides this narrative of the case in a document describing it:

“The Burke County Board of Commissioners presented the Georgia Bureau of Investigation with information alleging that county funds were used to cover out-of-state travel expenses related to private instruction. The information received on behalf of the commissioners was presented to the Burke County District Attorney for his consideration. On March 28, 2023, the District Attorney requested the GBI to conduct a limited preliminary inquiry to determine the merits of the commissioners claims. Investigation continues.”

READ THE GBI DOCUMENT:

That case came after 12 On Your Side Investigates started looking into the sheriff after the GBI opened an investigation for allegedly falsifying a Waynesboro police officer’s training records. That started around Feb. 17, 2023. We learned the DA received the GBI’s recommendations for that investigation around Aug. 7, 2023.

It’s been a busy few days for the sheriff.

Not only did he threaten to arrest the commissioners and county manager, but he also obtained an arrest warrant for a private citizen who’s trying to get him recalled. He claims she sent text messages that amounted to harassing communications.

Also this week, news broke that the commissioners asked Gov. Brian Kemp to launch an investigation of the sheriff.

The commissioners also declined to consent to the sheriff’s settlement of a sexual harassment case filed by a former employee.

And an outside audit of the county singled out his department – the only county agency to go over budget – for lacking budgetary controls.

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