COVINGTON, Ga. - Newton County Chief Deputy Tax Commissioner Dana Darby will be sworn in as tax commissioner at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 30 to succeed Tax Commissioner Barbara Dingler, who is retiring after serving 34 years in the office. 

The swearing-in ceremony will take place in the Probate Court courtroom of Judge Melanie Bell at the Newton County Judicial Center. 

Darby will serve out the remainder of Dingler's term, which expires Dec. 31, 2020 and intends to run for a four-year term in the 2020 election. 

"I thought about it and knew I that I wasn't going to run against Barbara, but when she did leave her position, I would run for her office," Darby told The Covington News. "I enjoy working with people and meeting the citizens and talking with them. We see pretty much - at one time or another - everyone in the office."

Darby has been with the tax commissioner's office for 20 years. 

Darby said while the issue of delinquent taxes has been in the forefront recently, this transition was something that was in the works before any recent investigation. 

"I've never heard quite as much concerning delinquencies until now," she said. "This was going to happen anyway."