Members of the DeKalb County Election Commission met Wednesday and voted to seek an extension in filing an answer to a Chancery Court lawsuit brought against them last month by the former administrator of elections Lisa Peterson.
The commission has thirty days to answer the lawsuit, but still does not have an attorney to handle the case, and the thirty days are up next week.
Peterson also filed a federal court lawsuit last week against three members of the commission and they have twenty days to answer that complaint.
The special meeting of the election commission Wednesday was supposed to be for the purpose of possibly hiring an attorney, but an issue has arisen which has forced a delay.
Walteen Parker, Chairman of the Election Commission, says the State Attorney General has rendered an opinion that members of election commissions and administrators are county employees, while previous judicial rulings stemming from a case in another county, have held that they are state employees.
Parker says the issue is who is to provide and pay for the defense, the county, through attorneys for the county’s liability insurance carrier, or the state. “There are two lawsuits at stake and the reason we needed to meet tonight (Wednesday) is to determine where we’re going with this as a commission.”
“The Chancery Court lawsuit was sent to (County Attorney) Mr. (Hilton) Conger who did what he was supposed to do in contacting the County Mayor and contacting the insurance company and seeing where to go from here because the issue is, are the commission and the administrator of elections state employees, and that term is used very loosely, or county employees?. The (State) Attorney General’s opinion was written that we are county (employees). A judge in Bradley County, I believe, issued an opinion that it’s state (employees). Therefore there is an issue. Is it the county or the county’s insurance carrier’s responsibility to provide counsel and advisement or is it the (State) Attorney General’s Office who is to provide counsel and advisement?”
“The insurance attorney has said that until this issue is resolved they are not going to take any kind of action which is reasonable. As it turns out, we don’t know what to do about counsel until we get a judgement as to whether it’s state or county. If it’s considered a state issue, the Attorney General will provide counsel, if it’s a county issue then we can go with the county insurance carrier and their attorney. The county attorney (Conger) is not responsible in this. He is not the one we would turn to, it would be the insurance carrier’s attorney. Mr. Conger was here (tonight) to guide us in information that we needed. We can hire an attorney at our own choosing and that could be played out in the courts as to whether the state would reimburse this attorney or whether the county would so that is an option.”
In the meantime, County Attorney Conger apparently will petition the Chancery Court on behalf of the election commission for an extension in filing the answer to the lawsuit in that court.
Parker says she is hopeful the issue is resolved by the time the election commission meets in regular session again on the first Thursday in August.
Meanwhile Parker says she wants to assure the public that the litigation in court will not distract the commission nor the staff in the office from discharging their duties.
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