Bryan County adds settlement agreement with Joel Puskauskas III to agenda; staff outlines legal history

A county staff member said Bryan County added a settlement agreement with Joel Puskauskas III to the meeting agenda and summarized the dispute’s legal history.

The staff member said Puskauskas’s appointment ended on July 12, 2024, and that on July 18, 2024 Puskauskas filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in Bryan County Superior Court, recorded as Case No. 24000299. The staff member also said Puskauskas filed another lawsuit on July 30, 2024; the available transcript excerpt does not identify the defendant or provide further details about that filing.

The presenter told the board they would read portions of the settlement’s “whereas” provisions and outline the provisions that were agreed to, but the provided excerpt ends before the terms were read aloud or any formal vote on the settlement was recorded. The staff member described the dates of the termination and the court filings as the background for the settlement discussion.

The transcript excerpt includes the staff member’s statement that they would read the whereas clauses: “so, I’m gonna read some of the whereas provisions of the settlement…because that lays out the facts.” No settlement language, approval motion, or final action on the settlement appears in the provided excerpt.

Earlier in the meeting, members voted on a different item (the transcript records a motion that carried), but that vote is separate from the settlement discussion and the excerpt does not show any formal action on the settlement itself.