A judge held the Fulton County Board of Commissioners in civil contempt Wednesday, ordering $10,000 daily fines for defying a court order by failing to appoint two Republican nominees to the county Election Board.
In the 17-page ruling, Senior Superior Court Judge David Emerson said the fines — levied against the board as a group — will begin Friday at noon. Fines would stop once the commission appoints the GOP nominees. Emerson also awarded attorney’s fees to the Fulton County Republican Party, which filed suit against the commissioners.
In his ruling, Emerson called the commissioners “stubbornly litigious” and said they “acted in bad faith” by not seating the Republican nominees, even after he ordered them to do so.
Board members failed to approve the nominees, both of whom are election critics, in a 2-2, party-line vote last week. Three Democrats on the seven-person commission were absent at the time of the vote.
The legal battle regarding appointments to the Election Board is the latest in ongoing tensions over elections in Fulton, Georgia’s most populous county, which has been the target of unproven allegations of fraud since the 2020 presidential election.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Dozens of people packed the courtroom to hear arguments in an emergency hearing Wednesday morning, including Fulton commissioners, activists, vote challengers and State Election Board member Janice Johnston.
Thomas “Trey” Oliver, representing the Fulton GOP, argued all five Democratic commissioners should be held in contempt, pointing to the words and actions of Commissioners Dana Barrett and Mo Ivory at last week’s board meeting when they voted against the nominees.
He also said that, although Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. was recovering from surgery at the time of the vote and was unable to attend, Arrington made an Instagram post last week disagreeing with Emerson’s decision.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
“Defendants have made clear, on numerous occasions, that they have no intention of complying with this court’s order,” he said.
Don Samuel, representing the commission, said commissioners should not be punished for their individual votes.
“I can’t think of any time a congressman has been held in contempt because they voted no or yes,” he said.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
The legal dispute began in June after the Fulton County Republican Party filed a lawsuit to compel commissioners to accept the nominations of Julie Adams and Jason Frazier after the Democratic-controlled commission rejected them in a 5-2 vote in May. Commissioners questioned their qualifications for the board.
Emerson ruled in early August that state law requires the commission to approve the GOP nominations. The commission appealed the lawsuit, but their request to temporarily pause Emerson’s order was denied by the Georgia Court of Appeals.
Democrats Ivory and Barrett, who voted against approving Adams and Frazier last week, stood by their votes on the steps of Fulton County Superior Court before Emerson’s Wednesday ruling.
“I understood that when I voted there might be consequences for my actions,” Barrett said. “So I will face those consequences with my head held high, because I do not cast my vote for people who are actively working to undermine our elections.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Adams, an incumbent board member, voted against certifying last year’s primary election, and Frazier has challenged thousands of voter registrations in the heavily Democratic county.
Regardless of the court order, Ivory said her vote and the votes of other members of the County Commission are discretionary, not mandatory.
“I will not be compelled to vote against my conscience,” Ivory said. “Independence in decision-making is the essence of public service.”
This isn’t the first time the county Republican Party has filed a lawsuit over Election Board appointments.
They also sued in 2023 after the commission rejected Frazier’s nomination. The party later withdrew the lawsuit after nominating a different Election Board member.
The nominees also have a history of election-related legal disputes themselves.
Adams and several other Republican Election Board members across the state refused to certify results following President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, although all of them signed off on Trump’s 2024 victory following a court decision that certification is mandatory.
The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging election certification was Adams.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
And last year in August, Frazier sued the county Election Board, alleging Fulton violated state and federal laws by refusing to routinely remove ineligible voters from its rolls. He also said the county illegally failed to act on voter challenges in a timely manner.
Frazier withdrew the federal lawsuit a month later.
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