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Report: Judge stops ethics hearing against Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton

Metro ATL

Report: Judge stops ethics hearing against Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton

Former commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton speaks during a groundbreaking for a new fire station in Avondale Estates. File photo by Dan Whisenhunt
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Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton speaks during a groundbreaking for a new fire station in Avondale Estates. File photo by Dan Whisenhunt

Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton speaks during a groundbreaking for a new fire station in Avondale Estates. File photo by Dan Whisenhunt

DeKalb County Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton will not have to face the county’s Ethics Board a judge has ruled.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Ethics Board was considering charges related to Sutton’s use of her county-issued purchasing card. Sutton argued that approval of the Nov. 3 referendum that overhauled the ethics board meant the board no longer had the authority to investigate her case. To see the full story, click here.

Here is a copy of the judge’s order:

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20151109 Order granting Motion to Stay final hearing

Viola Davis, co-founder of Unhappy Taxpayer and Voter watchdog organization who also ran against Sutton in 2008, filed the complaint. Davis released a statement Nov. 12 blasting the judge’s decision.

“As government watchdogs and community missionaries, it is our opinion that the ruling by Superior Court Judge Courtney Johnson to stay the ethics hearing scheduled for November 12, 2015 was based on inaccurate and misleading information that she received from Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton’s attorney, Dwight L. Thomas,” Davis wrote. “We view this action to be nothing more than a delay tactic that denies the taxpayers and voters of DeKalb County justice.”

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