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Pickens County to move code-enforcement duties under sheriff's office after marshal resignation
Summary
Following the resignation of Chief Marshal Jody Weaver, county staff said code enforcement will be coordinated with the Pickens County Sheriff's Office and multiple ordinances will be repealed or amended to reflect the change.
County staff told commissioners that code enforcement duties will shift to a joint arrangement with the Pickens County Sheriff's Office after the resignation of Chief Marshal Jody Weaver. The change was presented as the second external operations item and will require ordinance updates.
Bill explained the current situation: the marshal's office provisions (identified in the transcript as Article 5 of Chapter 32) will be repealed and multiple ordinance chapters will be amended to reflect the new enforcement structure. The transcript lists several chapters to be amended (the presenter cited Chapter 1 and the following chapter numbers in the discussion), noting amendments to substantive chapters that contain enforcement provisions so the code points to the correct enforcing entity.
Under the new arrangement, dedicated sheriff's office personnel will be stationed in a county office to handle the law-enforcement side of enforcement while a civilian code-enforcement office (with a new chief enforcement officer) will handle routine non-criminal enforcement matters. Staff described a complaint-triage process that classifies incoming complaints as unfounded, standard, or major, with defined follow-up procedures for each category. The presenters emphasized weekly coordination meetings among the sheriff's office staff, the civilian enforcement officer, the fire marshal's office, animal control, and public works to review cases.
A staff speaker said the county needs to formally advertise changes because some amendments touch zoning provisions that require a public hearing. The presenter also noted the majority of Georgia counties use the sheriff's office for enforcement functions and that only a limited number previously maintained a marshal's office.
The board did not take a final vote on ordinance repeal or amendments during the work session; staff said the proposals would be advertised and returned for formal consideration in July.
Next steps: staff will prepare the repeal of Article 5 of Chapter 32 and draft amendments to the listed chapters for board consideration and required public hearings.
