The Oglethorpe County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a motion Monday night to replace current juvenile prosecutor Kevin McFarlin with representatives from Dyal Jenkins, an Elberton-based law firm.
Approximately 35 people attended the meeting, including all commissioners.
Beginning Jan. 1, McFarlin will no longer serve as the juvenile court prosecutor for the Northern Judicial Circuit Juvenile Court, which includes Oglethorpe, Madison, Hart, Elbert and Franklin counties.
“I think it’s a shame that us and four other counties — we’re one of the only two circuits in the state that has had this headache,” Chairman Jay Paul said.
Under Georgia law, a district attorney’s office may decline to prosecute juvenile court cases if it does not have sufficient staff or resources. When that occurs, the affected counties must hire and pay a separate attorney to handle those cases.
Currently, Oglethorpe County contributes $12,500 toward the juvenile court. The new law firm will cost approximately the same, county attorney Chip Ferguson said.
Ferguson recommended that the board approve Dyal Jenkins over another firm that had expressed interest, pending approval from the other counties in the circuit and his final review of the contract.
“It sounded like the other group that showed interest was wanting to charge extra for additional court dates and things like that,” Ferguson said. “And this group was willing to do it for the flat amount to get the job done.”
In other business, commissioners unanimously approved the purchase of a new skid steer for approximately $112,000 using funds generated through an equipment auction held by an auction company.
The county auctioned unused and aging equipment, including trailers, generating a profit of about $115,000 after fees and hauling costs. The funds were added to the county’s capital replacement account before being allocated for the new skid steer.
Adam Nation, head of the county’s Public Works Department, told the board about the importance of adding another skid steer for storm response and road clearing.
“There have been many nights where we’ve had 100 trees down throughout the county, and we’ve had that one machine,” Nation said. “And my biggest fear is if something were to happen — throw a track off, bust a hose — and then we’re kind of dead in the water.”
The county’s existing skid steer, purchased in 2014, remains in good condition.
The board also approved District 3 Commissioner David Clark’s nomination of Susan Williams for the county’s library board. The appointment came after a brief discussion about a possible merger of library systems with neighboring counties.
Walker Norman, chairman of the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners, spoke with Paul about concerns over fragmentation among library systems and invited Oglethorpe to join Lincoln and other counties to form a new regional system.
Oglethorpe County is a member of the Athens Regional Library System.
Paul told commissioners no action was needed Monday, but said he wanted them to be aware of discussions that may come before the board at a future meeting.
Crawford’s Scott Pettis was escorted out by Chief Deputy Jason Taft after he exchanged words with Commissioner Andy Saxon during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Pettis, who regularly attends the meetings to voice displeasure about property taxes, called commissioners cowards, leading Saxon to say, “I will whip your ass, right where you stand.”
Taft then told Pettis to leave the room as Paul regained order.
Saxon apologized for his comments.
After the September meeting, Pettis had a verbal altercation with Board of Education member Jake Willcox.
Three deputies responded, but there were no arrests in that incident.
In other business, the BOC:
- Received project updates, including the new four-way stop at state Route 22 (Comer Road) at the intersection of Collier Church Road/Watson Mill Road and the Crawford-Smithonia Road bridge construction. Commissioner Tracy Norman said the bridge remains on schedule for completion by early 2026.
- Unanimously reappointed Janet Hill, JF Hansford, James Shealy and Morgan Robinson to the Zoning Board.
- Unanimously approved qualifying fees of $126 for the Board of Commissioners and $43.20 for the Board of Education for the 2026 election cycle. Both are approximately the same as those for the 2024 election cycle.
- Approved (4-1, with Norman dissenting) a rezone request by Robert Findley for a parcel at 1162 Union Point Road from A2 (General Agriculture) to AR (Agriculture Residential).
- Approved (4-1, with Norman dissenting) a variance request by Findley for the subdivision of an 11.27-acre parcel on 1162 Union Point Road, which doesn’t meet the 20-acre minimum for paved roads.
- Approved (4-1, with Commissioner Howard Sanders dissenting) a rezone request by Tammy and David Owens for a parcel at 616 Yancey Road from A2 to AR to subdivide into five acres.
- Unanimously approved a revision request by Joe Walker to rebuild two poultry houses on existing pads where houses burned at 2798 Centerville Road.
- Unanimously approved a revision request by Hoai Pham to add one poultry house at 165 Millstone Church Road.
- Unanimously approved a conditional use change requested by Catherine Savage to build a single-family home at 143 North Point Peter Road in Heavy Industrial (Mining Extraction) zoning.
- Heard comments from John Robertson highlighting December as The Oglethorpe Echo’s gift-matching month.
- Heard comments from Randy Gordon regarding changes to the RV ordinance.