This story updates an earlier version to clarify details of the interview process for the applicants. 

COVINGTON, Ga. — Newton commissioners took a step toward hiring a staff attorney for the county government Tuesday night by voting to offer the job to someone they have employed on a contract basis since 2015.

However, the Board of Commissioners split on how they wanted to offer the job to Megan Martin, who has been the Jarrard & Davis law firm's main attorney for Newton County.

The Board, during a special called meeting, voted 3-2 to offer a six-month contract to Martin to lead the new department overseeing legal work for most of the county government . 

It voted after District 4 Commissioner J.C. Henderson made a motion for the six-month contract that overrode a motion by District 1 Commissioner Stan Edwards to offer the job without a time limit attached.

Commissioners Demond Mason, Alana Sanders and Henderson voted for his plan while commissioners Edwards and Ronnie Cowan supported an open-ended contract offer.

Henderson said after the meeting he wanted a six-month limit on the contract so the Board could review the attorney, County Manager Lloyd Kerr and longtime County Clerk Jackie Smith when their positions come up for renewal around the same time.

"It's about work performance," Henderson said. "I love (Martin) but this is something that is very important to the citizens of Newton County."

Martin has been the main attorney serving Newton County government for the Cumming-based law firm for six years, 

In response to a question from The Covington News today about his motion, Edwards said Martin "has served the county faithfully for over six years and has done everything we asked her to do."

"Her knowledge and experience is unmatched and we offered her a six-month contract?" he asked.

"There were several candidates that met the 'minimum' criteria set by the county but there was or is no one more qualified for this position than Megan Martin," Edwards said. "My hope is that she accepts the offer and we go from there.

"(She) only takes action when asked by the board — never autonomously," he said. "She has helped us through extremely difficult scenarios during that time and come to understand the nuances of our community, the department heads, and the board."

He said he wanted to "make sure this point is clear" that Martin is a "subject matter expert" on legal needs for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG).

The ACCG is the chief organization that provides training and serves as a source of legal information for all 159 county governments in Georgia.

It uses Martin as a resource on such issues as county government personnel matters. She also is "a frequent speaker for Georgia Local Government Personnel Association and often provides in-house training on particularized employment issues to counties throughout the state," according to the ACCG.

Edwards said he voted against Henderson's motion in hopes the Board would reject it and act on his motion, which ultimately did not get a vote.

The Board began the meeting Tuesday night at its normal location in the Historic Courthouse before moving across nearby Usher Street to the county administration building. 

After county officials earlier interviewed five applicants for the job, they selected two finalists — Martin and former Atlanta deputy city attorney Serena Nowell — whom Board members interviewed for the $185,000 per year position during the closed-door meeting.

State law allows governing bodies in Georgia to exclude the public from meetings in which personnel, land acquisition or legal matters are discussed.

The Board has heard calls for creating its own in-house law department since at least 2009 because of legal costs found to be considerably higher than surrounding counties.

In 2015, the Board voted to fire a Covington-based law firm led by Tommy Craig that it had employed for 39 years amid questions about rising costs and his work as a consultant on a multi-million-dollar reservoir project the Board ultimately scrapped.

Then, after voting the same year to hire an in-house attorney, board members voted to hire Jarrard & Davis on an interim basis and decided to employ the government-focused firm full time the following year.

Chairman Marcello Banes in August 2020 said a study he conducted found Newton County had legal costs that were as much as seven times higher than comparably-sized counties like Fayette and Bartow; and higher than neighboring counties like Walton and Rockdale.

Banes then asked the Board to consider hiring a staff attorney as a cost-saving measure, The county put out calls for applicants earlier this year.

The chairman's study included the legal costs of the sheriff’s office — which controls spending within its part of the county budget after the county commission appropriates the funding. 

The sheriff's office has continued to use Craig’s law firm to represent it despite most of the rest of the county government using Jarrard & Davis as the fulltime attorney since 2015.