Georgia Ethics Reform will help prevent these stories, right?

Shortly after being arrested in Glynn County for obstruction of justice in relation to the baby shooting defendant’s family, Brunswick City Commissioner James Henry Brooks, Sr. reported to Camden County and was jailed there after being indicted for alleged racketeering and official corruption.

Brooks surrendered about 9:45 a.m., just over two hours before the noon deadline set Friday as a condition of his release on Glynn County charges of obstructing an officer and tampering with a witness.

He was arrested Thursday on those charges and spent the night in jail.

The Camden County charges against Brooks go back more than a year. He was arrested and jailed in early 2012 on charges of bribery, violating his oath of office and using his position as a city commission to influence police hires and the issuance of city liquor licenses and permits.

The bribery charge was dismissed for lack of probable cause at a February 2012 hearing but the other charges were still pending when a grand jury returned an indictment that included the more serious racketeering charges Thursday.

Now that Brooks has been formally indicted, Gov. Nathan Deal will appoint a panel to explore the charges against Brooks. Deal will then receive the panel’s report and decide whether to remove Brooks from office.

Meanwhile, a federal court trial on bribery charges continues for Grovetown, Ga City Councilman Leland “Sonny” McDowell, who serves as Mayor Pro Tem.

McDowell, who pleaded not guilty to the charges June 15, is accused of offering a kickback to a former Alabama Department of Public Safety employee in 2007. He and James E. Potts, of Montgomery, Ala., face a four-count indictment alleging bribery related to a program receiving federal funds.

McDowell owned Southern Detention Technologies, which sold fingerprint machines. He is now the owner of Grayco Detention Equipment.

McDowell said he sold the department a machine to be used for fingerprint-based background checks on people who were going to work with children, the elderly and otherwise vulnerable people.

The federal grand jury’s June indictment accused him of offering, and Potts of accepting, a $1,700 check and $1 for every fingerprint scan related to the DHR, according to the statement.

If convicted, McDowell faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

McDowell was elected to Grovetown City Council in 2009, and his term runs through the end of this year. If he is convicted or pleads guilty, he’ll be removed from the council, Mayor George James has said.

City council members re-elected McDowell in January as the city’s mayor pro tempore.