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Public commenter urges Stephens County commissioners to request outside investigations into alleged law-enforcement misconduct
Summary
During public comment, an individual identifying himself as Elder Freeman accused a former deputy and others of excessive force, alleged destroyed body/dash-cam footage and called on commissioners to ask the GBI, FBI or DOJ to investigate; the board did not state a formal response on the record.
A public commenter who identified himself as Elder Freeman urged Stephens County commissioners to seek outside investigations into alleged law-enforcement misconduct, recounting his own arrest and alleging missing evidence and conspiratorial behavior by county officers.
"I am Elder Freeman," he said at the start of his remarks. Freeman said he has been "arbitrarily exiled" from Stephens County since 2024 as a bond condition despite owning property and paying taxes. He described an arrest on June 29, 2024, that he said involved excessive force by a deputy he named, and he said a judge later dismissed a charge against him. "There is no denying this because I was, in fact, indicted for speech crimes under the color of disorderly conduct, a charge which Judge Cornwell dismissed back in March 2025," Freeman said.
Freeman alleged that video evidence disappeared from the sheriff’s office and that open-records requests remained unanswered. He urged the commission to "call in outside sources" and explicitly named the GBI, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice as possible investigators. Freeman added that if commissioners do so, "you will be heroes to your constituents; fail to do so, and you will be counted among the coconspirators." He also made a series of criminal allegations against named individuals in surrounding jurisdictions and asked the county to act.
No commissioner provided a recorded response in the transcript excerpt. The chair thanked the speaker and moved to adjourn the meeting.
The statements are allegations made in public comment and were not adjudicated during the meeting. The transcript does not contain on-the-record responses, confirmations, or contradictory evidence from law-enforcement officials or county administrators.
