The original story on the complaints is here and the OIG initial response along with my reply and request for reconsideration is here. I added links to the OIG’s response in an effort to make it easier to digest.

• Note: We filed three complaints, one against Gov. Brian Kemp one against Gwinnett Sheriff Keybo Taylor and one against Cobb Sheriff Craig Owens. The complaint against Gov Kemp is still under consideration at OIG.

The below was received via email on Sept. 12, 2022. I am grateful to Mr. McAfee for his reply.

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Good afternoon Mr. King,

  I appreciate your consideration of our office for your complaint. To be clear, declining an investigation does not mean we’ve taken any position on the merits or thoroughness of your concerns. We must simply “stay in our lane” and only execute the powers delineated to us by executive order. In my mind, that executive order is clear. OIG does not police all executive powers, constitutionally created or otherwise, only the “agencies of state government” and “state agencies within the executive branch.” I’ve attached a copy of our founding executive order for your convenience.

While county sheriffs may perform state and executive branch functions as your cited AG opinion points out, the fact remains that county sheriffs are not state agencies but rather instrumentalities of county government. See, e.g., O.C.G.A. § 15-16-1 (a) (“the sheriff is the basic law enforcement officer of the several counties of this state”); Veit v. State, 182 Ga. App. 753, 756 (1987). OIG has not been granted jurisdiction to investigate anything considered executive in function. Only “state agencies.”

  Feel free to call me anytime at the number below. I’m happy to talk through your concerns and explain our position in greater detail. And disregard any previous reference to DOC, as I agree that DOC would not be the appropriate venue for your complaint.

Complaints filed (Sept. 6, 2022) related to multiple violations of OCGA 42-4-14 and the violations of the oaths of office for Gov. Brian Kemp, Sheriff Keybo Taylor and Sheriff Craig Owens. There will be additional complaints filed. See this letter for explanation and links to evidence.

OIG here.

• Updated Sept. 9, 2022: Initial response and my reply here.
• Final response from OIG on the two complaints against the sheriffs here.
• List of news outlets, editors, producers and reporters to whom we have sent a news tip on this story here. 

The below was emailed to Mr. McAfee today and put in the U.S.P.S.

January 11, 2023

The Honorable Mr. Scott McAfee

Inspector General, Georgia

2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive SW,

1102 West Tower
Atlanta, GA 30334

Re:

A second addition to my September 6, 2022 complaint against Governor Brian Kemp.

Complaint confirmation # F345217D89. My first addition is here.

• Please add OCGA 36-80-23.
• My request that you forward this complaint to the Attorney General’s office.

“The Governor shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed and shall be the conservator of the peace throughout the state.” Section ll, Paragraph ll of the Georgia Constitution.

Mr. McAfee,

Please update my September complaint against Gov. Brian Kemp to include my allegation that he is in violation of his oath of office on enforcement of yet another state law, OCGA 36-80-23, known as Georgia’s “sanctuary city law.”

For clarity, I paste part of the law below:

36-80-23. Prohibition on immigration sanctuary policies by local governmental entities; certification of compliance.

 “…(6) “Sanctuary policy” means any regulation, rule, policy, or practice adopted by a local governing body which prohibits or restricts local officials or employees from communicating or cooperating with federal officials or law enforcement officers with regard to reporting immigration status information while such local official or employee is acting within the scope of his or her official duties.

(b) No local governing body, whether acting through its governing body or by an initiative, referendum, or any other process, shall enact, adopt, implement, or enforce any sanctuary policy.

(c) Any local governing body that acts in violation of this Code section shall be subject to the withholding of state funding or state administered federal funding other than funds to provide services specified in subsection (d) of Code Section 50-36-1.

(d) As a condition of funding, the Department of Community Affairs, the Department of Transportation, or any other state agency that provides funding to local governing bodies shall require certification pursuant to Code Section 50-36-4 as proof of compliance with this Code section.”

As you know, Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor has defiantly boasted to the national and Georgia media that his office will not share information on immigration status with federal immigration authorities (ICE).

I again respectfully remind you that according to quotes published in the media, including the Associated Press, Taylor’s exact words on this policy at his swearing-in event on January 1, 2021 were “one thing we will not be doing is notifying ICE of anybody’s immigration status in the jail of any of our facilities.”

I have spent many hours verifying that Sheriff Taylor has been allowed to fulfill his anti-enforcement pledge.

This public defiance of the state law Taylor (and Gov. Kemp) are charged with enforcing should be treated as Taylor’s confession to repeated and now two-year long violations of not only OCGA 36-80-23 but also OCGA 42-2-14.

My original complaint was centered around Gov. Kemp’s refusal to enforce the latter law, which, as you also know, requires jailers – including Sheriff Taylor – to use reasonable effort to determine immigration status of foreign-born prisoners and to report illegal aliens to the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security.

In addition, OCGA 36-80-23 requires certification of compliance from the “governing body” as a condition of funding from various state agencies.

(d) As a condition of funding, the Department of Community Affairs, the Department of Transportation, or any other state agency that provides funding to local governing bodies shall require certification pursuant to Code Section 50-36-4 as proof of compliance with this Code section.”

As you informed me last year in your response to my original complaints against Cobb Sheriff Craig Owens and (Gwinnett Co.) Sheriff Keybo Taylor, these sheriffs are employed by their respective counties. Those county governments are the “governing body” of each sheriff and the sheriffs are the “elected or appointed official” and certified peace officer” in the law cited in paragraph (5):

“(5) Local official or employee” means any elected or appointed official, supervisor or managerial employee, contractor, agent, or certified peace officer acting on behalf of or in conjunction with a local governing body.”

The law does not say “may” – it says “shall” be subject to withholding of state funding or state administered funding not stated in subsection (d) of another law that goes unenforced by Gov. Kemp.

“Any local governing body that acts in violation of this Code section shall be subject to the withholding of state funding or state administered federal funding other than funds to provide services specified in subsection (d) of Code Section 50-36-1.”

I charge that Sheriff Taylor is in violation of both OCGA 42-4-14 and OCGA 36-80-23. Gwinnett County government, operated by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners is in violation of OCGA 36-80-23 (while it is not the subject of this complaint, I believe Gwinnett County to be in violation of OCGA 50-36-1 as well).

Unless Gwinnett County government has made false statements of compliance on OCGA 36-80-23 making the state funding agencies believe the county complies, it would seem that all of the state agencies that have funded Gwinnet County since January 1, 2021 (Sheriff Taylor’s swearing in date) have done so illegally.

I limit this observation here to one county for space and time, but I can easily point to multiple additional governing bodies (including Cobb County) that are not in compliance with any of the laws mentioned here for the same reasons.

As the Chief executive, Gov. Kemp is responsible for the enforcement of all the laws mentioned above and for the public safety of all Georgians.

Please advise me if I must file a separate complaint with your office dedicated to the various state agencies involved with apparent funding violations outlined above – or if your investigators can and will use the information contained in this addition to my complaint against Gov. Kemp to examine my allegations regarding state agencies here.

Please forward my complaint to the Attorney General.

I have again read the mission statement and duties of your office:

“The State of Georgia Office of the Inspector General promotes transparency and accountability in state government. OIG diligently investigates fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption in the executive branch. We work to promote effective controls, improve agency policies and procedures, and identify opportunities for efficiency…”

I believe I have met the requirements for your office to investigate all concerned in this letter and have outlined a valid account that accounts for nearly all of the examples of  illegal government actions in your “what we do” statement.

I will be grateful for a note that you have received this additional information and complaint. I will follow up on it.

Sincere congratulations on your appointment to the Judicial Branch.

Respectfully,

D.A. King

The below complaint letter was emailed to the OIG on November 11, 2022 and a hard copy sent via USPS November 12, 2022.

_______

November 11, 2022

The Honorable Mr. Scott McAfee

Inspector General, Georgia

2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive SW,

1102 West Tower
Atlanta, GA 30334

Re: Addition to my September 6, 2022 complaint against Governor Brian Kemp – Complaint confirmation # F345217D89

Mr. McAfee,

Thank you for your response on the two complaints filed against Gwinnett Sheriff Keybo Taylor and Cobb Sheriff Craig Owens. I want to expand my complaint against Gov. Kemp filed in September. I agree with the statement on your office’s webpage that reads “key to public trust is the expectation that the OIG will hold state officials accountable for efficient, cost effective government operations and to prevent, detect, identify, expose and eliminate fraud, waste, abuse and corruption.

My original complaint involves Gov. Kemp’s refusal to enforce OCGA 42-4-14 which reads in part: “When any foreign national is confined, for any period, in a county or municipal jail, a reasonable effort shall be made to verify that such foreign national has been lawfully admitted to the United States and if lawfully admitted, that such lawful status has not expired. If verification of lawful status cannot be made from documents in the possession of the foreign national, verification shall be made within 48 hours through a query to the Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) of the United States Department of Homeland Security or other office or agency designated by the federal government. If the foreign national is determined to be an illegal alien, the keeper of the jail or other officer shall notify the United States Department of Homeland Security, or other office or agency designated for notification by the federal government.”

As I advised you in September, the above sheriffs are on record as defiantly and publicly refusing to comply with this state statute. This insolence has created a serious threat to public safety and the rule of law in Georgia.

I have done my best to appeal to Gov. Kemp’s sense of duty and honor in urging him to investigate and prosecute the openly admitted violations of this important public safety law dating back to January 2021. To my knowledge, there is no record of him taking an official action. While I understand your message that these sheriffs are not within your office’s jurisdiction, it is clear the governor is in the Executive branch of state government.

I would be grateful for an update on any action or progress your office has made in this matter since September. I note that as a state senator Gov. Kemp presided over the Senate Public Safety Committee that held hearings on the legislation that created this law. Then Senator Kemp voted in favor of final passage.

After spending many of hours of my own time on research in my own investigation using open records requests, I hereby add more Georgia laws that Gov. Kemp is allowing to be openly ignored. Please add OCGA 50-36-1, OCGA 50-36-2, OCGA 36-60-6 and OCGA 13-10-91 to my pending complaint against Gov. Kemp on OCGA 42-4-14.

While I can direct your office to multiple examples of local governments and state agencies that are not in compliance, to offer your investigators a place to begin on the additional allegations, I cite the numerous documented and admitted violations of these laws by the government of Carroll County.

To save time and paper, I respectfully direct you to the narrative of the literally thousands of defiant violations by Carroll County officials that I have posted here and here.

I have saved all the email exchanges with Carrol County that serve to illustrate and document proof of violation and staff admission of those violations. I can produce many more examples in other public agencies.

As Gov. Kemp has posted on the official website of his office, “the governor is the chief executive of the state and oversees the executive branch. He or she is the chief law enforcement officer.”

The state constitution tells us that the governor shall “take care that the laws are faithfully executed and shall be the conservator of the peace” in the state. This power to enforce laws is almost identical to that of the president of the United States.”

All of the laws here were designed to deter and punish the organized crime of illegal immigration while protecting jobs and taxpayer-funded benefits and services from illegal aliens. Like most Georgians, we consider them to be as important as street racing laws. Safeguarding the security and safety of innocent and trusting Georgians is part of the governor’s job.

It seems obvious to us that Gov. Kemp’s refusal to honor his oath of office on enforcement points to the corruption and abuse in the Chief Executive’s office on this matter.

Please add these latest accusations to my pending complaint and your investigation.

Please contact me with any questions.

Very respectfully submitted,

D.A. King

Marietta, GA. 30066