Hall County attorneys have sent a letter to the Georgia Attorney General’s Office in response to allegations that members of its Planning Commission violated the Georgia Open Meetings Act.
Hall County resident Jodi White had filed a complaint, alleging that multiple planning commissioners had met on Sept. 15 and conducted county business. The complaint alleged that at least three planning commissioners were at the meeting, which would constitute a quorum. A quorum cannot meet to conduct county business without issuing a public notice, agenda and meeting minutes according to state law.
In response to that complaint, the Georgia Attorney General’s Office sent a letter to Hall County on Oct. 6, requesting a response to the allegations within 10 days. The next day, the Hall County Board of Commissioners voted to suspend the Planning Commission and conduct a third-party investigation into the alleged improper meetings.
In the letter, sent by newly-appointed Hall County Attorney Justin Lawhon, said that through interviews and review of surveillance footage of the Hall County Government Center, officials determined that the meeting on Sept. 15 did not violate the Georgia Open Meetings Act.
The letter was provided to AccessWDUN by White. In response to requests for verification of the letter, Hall County officials declined to comment.
“Given this is an active investigation…the County will not provide any documentation at this time,” officials said Thursday morning.
The email stated that Planning Commission Chairman Chris Braswell had been holding meetings with Planning and Zoning Director Beth Garmon and Planning and Zoning Administrator Katie Greenway ahead of scheduled planning commission meetings on Monday afternoons to review the upcoming agenda.
“For the past year or so, it has become customary for Chairman Braswell to invite at least one other Planning Commissioner to attend these pre-meeting agenda reviews,” the letter from the county to the Georgia Attorney General’s Office said. “On September 15…only Chairman Braswell, (Planning Commissioner Stan) Hunt, Ms. Garmon and Ms. Greenway were in the conference room at various times as part of the subject meeting.”
The letter said Braswell stepped out of the room due to his needing to recuse himself from a potential vote on one of the items on the upcoming agenda. During that afternoon’s meeting, Braswell recused himself from a vote where the Planning Commission recommended approval for a rezoning and special use to allow for a data center on O’Kelly Road in the southeastern portion of the county.
When Hunt, Garmon and Greenway finished discussing the item, Hunt reportedly stepped out of the room, told Braswell they were done discussing that item, then went to the restroom. Braswell re-entered the room, with planning commissioner Andre Castleberry then entering the room as well.
Hunt then returned from the restroom and re-entered the conference room. That totaled three planning commissioners in the room at that point.
“Director Garmon informed the Planning Commissioners that three of them could not remain in the conference room and discuss the agenda,” the letter said. “Thereupon, Mr. Hunt stood up and began gathering his papers to leave. There was some delay in Mr. Hunt leaving due to confusion regarding what was his paperwork and what was Planning Staff’s papers. Nevertheless, during that time, while all three members were in the room, no business of the Planning Commission was discussed or presented. All of the conversation was social in nature.”
A fourth planning commissioner, Shannon Davidson, recently told WDUN that he was in the Government Center at the time this meeting was taking place. He said, while there, a county resident told him that an improper meeting was taking place in the conference room.
“I took it upon myself to go up and take a look, and I did find exactly that,” Davidson said. “I immediately left, made a phone call to the [Hall County Commission] Chairman David Gibbs, and I said ‘this is what I’ve seen.’ I said ‘I’m 100 percent sure that this is not what’s supposed to be happening right now.’”
The letter from the county acknowledged that Davidson entered the room while the other three planning commissioners were there.
“Upon opening the door, Mr. Davidson discovered Chairman Braswell, Mr. Hunt, and Mr. Castleberry in the room, along with Director Garmon and Ms. Greenway,” the letter said. “At that point, Mr. Hunt finished gathering his papers and promptly exited the room as Mr. Davidson left without entering.”
The letter said county officials concluded that no improper activity took place at the meeting.
“We do not believe a violation of Georgia’s Open Meetings Act…occurred on that date,” the letter said.
The letter did acknowledge, however, that county officials have found evidence that as many as seven other such meetings of multiple planning commissioners may have taken place over the past year.
“In looking into this further, Hall County has uncovered additional evidence that indicates there may have been other gatherings of three or more Planning Commissioners on previous occasions from August of 2024 to August of 2025,” the letter said. “Accordingly, Hall County has appointed an independent investigator to gather facts regarding these other potential violations of the Open Meetings Act and we anticipate a report being finalized and produced to the Board of Commissioners for review within the next two weeks.”
The letter was dated Oct. 20 of this year. It asked the Georgia Attorney General’s Office to allow the county 30 days from the letter being sent to provide a further response to the allegations.
Planning Commissioners Davidson and Hunt are each running for the soon-to-be-vacant Hall County Commission District 3 seat. Both are running as Republicans in the primary set for May, 2026.
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