Grand jury report: Clayton government irresponsible, abuses power | www.myajc.com

Some Clayton County elected officials and the people they hire to run county agencies are “irresponsible,” abuse their powers and use their positions to help themselves, their relatives and their friends, according to a report from a special grand jury that is to be released Tuesday.

Almost 2 1/2 years after Clayton Superior Court Judge Matthew Simmons ordered two dozen citizens “to review cases of corruption in city and county government,” their work has ended and their report is to be filed in early afternoon. Portions of the report were sent to those whose agencies were criticized. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained only some of those sections of the report so the extent of the corruption the grand jurors suspect is not known. These sections also do not name individual public officials; only the agencies are identified.

This special grand jury did not have the authority to bring indictments, but still their work has led to a guilty plea, an elected official resigning and indictments from a regular grand jury. District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson said there are ongoing criminal investigations and there could be more cases brought.

“The evidence led this body to conclude that people elected or hired for the public trust were irresponsible in using the power of their office to hire friends or family, and/or to use money or resources for personal interests, all to the detriment of citizens,” the special purpose grand jurors wrote.

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