GBI sends Cobb Superior Court Clerk probe to Georgia AG

The Georgia Attorney General’s Office has confirmed that they are reviewing the findings of a state investigation into Cobb Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor. The investigation was initiated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in late 2022 at the request of a Cobb County Superior Court judge. The case was placed in the hands of state authorities after Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady Jr. recused himself from the investigation early on.

Allegations arose when an employee of the clerk’s office, Maya Curry, claimed that Taylor instructed her to destroy records pertaining to Taylor’s retention of passport application fees. According to reports, Taylor allegedly referred to the situation as “Donald Trumping” the issue in response to an open records request regarding her fee collections.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation completed its investigation and transferred the case file to Attorney General Chris Carr’s office for prosecutorial review on March 14. Kara Richardson, a spokesperson for the AG’s Office, stated that they are currently evaluating the findings to determine the appropriate course of action. Senior Assistant AG Blair McGowan is overseeing the case within the AG’s Public Integrity and White Collar Crime Unit.

Taylor, elected in 2020, has faced ongoing controversies during her tenure as clerk, including scrutiny over her handling of passport fees and delays in processing legal records. While clerks are permitted to collect fees for passport applications their offices handle as personal income, Taylor’s collection of passport fees drew greater attention after it came to light the amount she received. Since assuming office in January 2021, Taylor has garnered approximately $425,000 from passport fees in addition to her $170,000 per year salary. Critics are arguing now that such revenue should either be reinvested in office improvements or contributed to the county general fund for broader community purposes. However, Taylor’s Republican predecessor, Rebecca Keaton, amassed around $117,000 in passport fee income over three and a half years. Keaton initially allocated about 40% of these fees to herself, forwarding the remainder to the county, but over time, she incrementally increased her share, ultimately retaining 100% of the fees during the final five months of her tenure. Taylor ceased collecting passport fees as personal income in October 2022 after facing public scrutiny.

Additionally, Taylor admitted to receiving unauthorized proceeds from expedited mail services, which she planned to refund to the county. However, this refund has not yet occurred, according to Cobb County.
Revelations about clerks’ handling of passport income prompted state lawmakers to reconsider the practice. State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick introduced legislation aimed at banning the practice entirely, although the bill was eventually modified to cap passport fee income and, ultimately, became a transparency measure requiring clerks to report passport fee income quarterly.

In addition to the passport fee controversy, Taylor’s office has been criticized for significant delays in filing civil and criminal court records, causing inconvenience for individuals involved in legal proceedings.

Taylor faces three opponents in the upcoming Democratic primary election on May 21: Brunessa Drayton, Nick Simpson, and Carole Melton. The winner of the primary will compete against Republican candidate Deborah Dance in the general election on November 5.