By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MAY 6, 2022 | Most Gwinnett County public officials do a good job in the offices for which they are elected. The county thrives in such an environment, and makes its citizens proud.
But every now and then, it happens that a person comes to office who, by their actions or lack of them, is not worthy of that office. When that happens, citizens should be astute enough to vote that person out of office.
We’re talking about the mismanagement of his office by the current solicitor-general of Gwinnett County, Brian Whiteside. He does not deserve to be re-elected in the May 24 primary. As a result of his actions, prosecution of criminals is spotty, and some people charged with criminal activity go free.
But recently Mr. Whiteside took action that really turned the State Court heads.
Because of his action, Gwinnett judicial officials have taken the unusual step to charge Mr. Whiteside with criminal—yes, criminal—contempt of the State Court of Gwinnett. That alone should startle the Gwinnett voters into recognizing that something is amiss in the solicitor’s office, and that the people need to take action.
All this is spelled out in documents from the court, which hired an outside attorney, Walt Britt of Buford, to investigate and report back to the court on the matter. These documents, dated Jan 6, 2022, are matters of public record, and are presented here.
Read through these records. Click here to read this major document, which has eight exhibits. Note that several employees of the solicitor’s office were also involved, and could have faced court penalties, since they acted under orders from Mr. Whiteside.
Here’s what led to this contempt charge.
On December 31, 2021, Mr. Whiteside sent out a press release saying: “The Solicitor General of Gwinnett will not be conducting State Court at the Gwinnett County Justice and Administration building…..as part of temporary closure due to COVID-19.”
A letter of January 3, 2022, from Whiteside to the six State Court judges told them: “No jury trials or arraignments would be scheduled in January 2022.”
That led to State Court Judge Ronda Colvin Leary to file a petition for criminal contempt charges against Whiteside, pointing out that when a solicitor fails to attend court as required by law, he can be fined $50 for each instance of failure, with that fine to come out of the solicitor’s salary.
The really strange part of all this seems to be that Mr. Whiteside feels like he determines the schedule of the State Court. Whereas, by law, it is the very opposite, that Mr. Whiteside must operate at the pleasure of the State Court. He is merely the solicitor, not the presiding official, which are the judges. You would think that even the most junior attorney would understand that, as learned in law school.
There are two more accompanying documents:
- Click here for another document, and
- Click here to view where Mr. Whiteside admits guilt to criminal contempt, and apologizes.
His March 28, 2022 admission to improper actions and apology reads:
The current solicitor has been elected to serve until the end of 2022. He has a worthy Democratic opponent in the May 24 primary in Lisamarie Bristol, who is a prosecutor and senior assistant Dekalb County District Attorney. GwinnettForum has endorsed her candidacy. Since there were no Republicans qualifying for this position, the winner of the May 24 primary election will be the next solicitor of Gwinnett County.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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