Burke County leaders decline to consent to settlement in lawsuit involving sheriff
WAYNESBORO, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Burke County commissioners made a decision on the legal settlement between Sheriff Alfonzo Williams and his former employee Brenda Johnson on Tuesday night.
Commissioners Rodney Braswell and Art Lively moved to decline to consent to the settlement agreement, meaning the case will move forward.
The motion carried with commissioners’ Chairman Evans Martin in favor.
Burke County sheriff targets a key critic for arrest
Embroiled in a yearslong budget battle with county commissioners, Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams now wants to arrest them.

This is a formal process, and the commissioners must consent to allow the settlement process to continue because they’re the only ones who carry insurance.
The two parties, Johnson and Williams, have not settled on an amount.
Commissioner Tommy Nix said it could cost taxpayers several million dollars if they didn’t consent on Tuesday. However, they can’t tell us how much taxpayers are on the hook for or what the of the settlement are.
Commissioners did tell us the sheriff maintains his innocence and denies all claims made.
Commissioners say they’ve been in with the attorney general’s office and the governor’s office several times this week and say this was not an easy decision.
A crowd of about 125 people applauded commissioners’ decision.
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At the beginning of the meeting, commissioners went into executive session just to talk with Williams’ attorney and about insurance. Commissioners went into executive session around 6:15 p.m. and came out just before 7:10.
As for what’s next, we’re told attorneys will have to regroup and try to renegotiate another settlement. It’s unclear whether this matter will go to court.
Also, commissioners saw a presentation on a county internal audit on financial statements conducted by an outside financial firm.
The sheriff’s office was a finding in the internal audit, and it was the only finding in the audit for issues with financial controls over their budget.
It was the only department in the county over budget.
This all comes after people had questions after Williams wrote an incident report saying commissioners exert too much control over his budget.
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