OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Clayton County Board of Commissioners Work Session - February 12, 2026

Board of Commissioners — Thursday, February 12, 2026
BodyClayton County, Georgia
SessionBoard of Commissioners
DateThursday, February 12, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:02:46

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

At the five, we still say, do you still want to deliberate or you want to go home?

0:04

So it always gives an opportunity to go home.

0:06

I think they missed something about uh there was something mentioned about a jury being out to midnight and all those type things.

0:13

Well, that's happened once in my eight years.

0:16

It happened in my courtroom.

0:18

Uh the jury got the case at 5 30.

0:21

Of course, this was the Thursday before Good Friday.

0:27

And they said, Well, Judge Maggie, can we stay?

0:30

I said, Well, yeah, we'll check back on you.

0:32

And they stayed and about seven o'clock, we just checked on them again and said, Look, Judge, tomorrow's good Friday.

0:38

We ain't going to work.

0:40

We ain't planning on coming back here tomorrow.

0:42

So we're going to finish this case.

0:44

No matter how long it takes, we're gonna stay.

0:46

And so they stayed, wouldn't leave, and they stayed to 1215, came back with a verdict.

0:51

But that's the only time that's ever happened uh in the eight years I've been here, and another judge had gone that late.

0:59

So it's not a routine thing that happens.

1:02

They always get an opportunity, they decide if they want to stay late.

1:07

Okay, so I want to make sure that y'all understood that that is not the norm.

1:11

That was an exception, but anytime it's after five, it's because the jurors themselves said we want to stay late, we want to finish this case because we don't want to come back tomorrow.

1:21

Okay.

1:22

Now, with regards to the bailiffs, the uh I think there was something about $15 an hour, uh, I would ask you not to do that.

1:30

Right now, our bailiffs work part-time.

1:33

And we got enough of them right now to work part-time.

1:36

And what we do is the way it's set up right now, they get $80 per diem.

1:41

And they usually we can make sure they just work 20 hours because it's part-time.

1:44

And so they get the $80 per diem.

1:47

So if they're there, say for example, 20 hours, we might get them four hours a day, and so they get $80 per day.

1:53

Okay, so if you gave them, you better try to give them $15 an hour, it'd be a cut in their pay, and we would lose all of our bailiffs.

2:01

Okay.

2:01

Now, I do think when it comes to the grand juror bailiff, uh, they're usually there, I would say probably at least six hours a day.

2:10

But it's only one day.

2:12

They're there on a Wednesday, and that's it.

2:15

The other bailiffs that are there, they're there pretty much 20 hours a week.

2:19

And the only ones that I am concerned about are the ones who are there for the jury.

2:23

Like, for example, that one that stayed to midnight, those two had to stay to midnight because the jury was there till midnight.

2:28

But when we have jury trials, we might need to look at doing something with those bailiffs because they are working as long as we're this.

2:36

They're not working 20 hours a week.

2:38

They may work 40 hours that particularly week when we have a jury trial.

2:42

And we need to come up with some kind of way to compensate them uh because they're working, make it make working 40 hours, 30 to 40 hours rather than 20 hours a week.

2:51

And what I would recommend uh for those would be like maybe maybe instead of $80 per diem per day, is to give me give them $100, which is $20, you know, extra per day for those jury trials.

3:05

And so $100 per diem for those who have jury trials, it's only doing jury trials, which are done probably once once a week.

3:12

I mean, excuse me, once a month normally by each judge.

3:16

And so we can just compensate those type bailiffs who are working 35 to 40 hours a week when they're doing jury trials, that would be appreciated.

3:24

But don't give them $15 an hour, just leave it like it is, just figure out a way to compensate those that are working 35 to 40 hours as opposed to 20 hours.

3:33

So let me clarify something for my own edification.

3:36

Uh you have jury trial.

3:38

There's what five in you.

3:40

Yes.

3:41

And you each of you have a jury trial.

3:44

Not isn't it's not on the same week though, right?

3:47

Not on the same week.

3:48

That's that's correct.

3:49

Sometimes, but usually it's like maybe two of us that have it that same week.

3:54

But let me say that even during jury trial week, we don't always have a jury trial.

3:59

Okay, so most cases plea out rather than having a jury trial.

4:03

So um we would average, I would tell you, we may average one jury trial, uh, each judge may average, may average seven or eight jury trials a year, I would say.

4:15

Does that include state court?

4:18

No, state court, um, I'm not sure if they're average, but I would tell you uh they don't have that many jury trials because the well most of those are misdemeanors, most of those cases plea out.

4:28

A ton of them plea out.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Parks and Recreation████████████████████████████28%
Public Engagement██████████████14%
Insurance██████████████14%
Code Enforcement█████████████13%
Correctional Services███████7%
Healthcare███████7%
Procurement Management█████5%
Personnel Matters████4%
Environmental Protection████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Clayton County Board of Commissioners Work Session - February 12, 2026

Note: The agenda and transcript date this session as October 8, 2024, but the provided meeting metadata says February 12, 2026; this summary uses the metadata date and notes the discrepancy.

The Clayton County Board of Commissioners held a work session to review preliminary items for the October 15, 2024 regular business meeting (per agenda), receive departmental updates, and discuss courthouse/bailiff compensation, a proposed blight tax, parks and recreation, and the 2025 Anthem self-funded medical renewal. The agenda also included an FY 2024 unaudited financial update and a Game Changer Nation report, but the transcript excerpt does not capture the former and shows the latter was skipped or not presented. No formal votes were taken.

Courthouse Update – Bailiffs & Jury (Judge Robert Mack)

  • Judge Mack said jurors working past 5 p.m. is rare; in his eight years it happened once, when a jury stayed until 12:15 a.m. before Good Friday.
  • Bailiffs are part-time, paid an $80 per diem, and usually work about 20 hours per week. He opposed switching to $15/hour because it would be a pay cut and the county would lose bailiffs.
  • Instead, he recommended a $100 per diem for bailiffs assigned to jury trials, who can work 35–40 hours in trial weeks. Judges average seven to eight jury trials a year, and trials average about three days.
  • He said a written formal recommendation, including grand jury findings, would be provided for a future budget cycle.

Blight Tax for Blighted County Properties (Chief Kevin Roberts)

  • Chief Roberts reported the Quality of Life Task Force researched a blight tax, also called a community improvement tax incentive program, which the Board considered and tabled in 2017; Atlanta and Cobb County have since adopted similar measures.
  • The proposal would impose an elevated millage rate on vacant, dilapidated, and severely delinquent properties. Owners would have a 30-day window after notification to consult with the director of community development and develop a compliance plan.
  • Roberts said the target is vacant/unaccounted properties, not occupied homes, and cited a vacant hotel on Old Dixie Road as an example of long-standing blight.
  • Commissioner Hambrick raised concerns that repeat code offenders exploit the court process; Roberts said he would reconvene the task force within two weeks with magistrate/state court and code enforcement to consider stricter penalties, fee escalation, and potential state legislative changes.

Parks and Recreation Overview (Director Nicole Horne)

  • Director Horne presented her 90-day assessment. The department has 77 full-time and 185 part-time active employees, over 1,000 acres of green space, 16 parks, 4 trail systems, 1 nature preserve, 1 wildlife sanctuary, 5 recreation centers, 5 swimming pools, 1 water park, Lake Spivey, 25 tennis courts, and 6 dedicated pickleball courts.
  • SWOT highlights: strengths include trail systems (Clayton Connects) and community engagement; weaknesses include inexperienced middle management, aging infrastructure, volunteer qualifications, SOP gaps, and reactive communication; opportunities include professional development, environmental education, grants, partnerships, and restructuring; threats include illegal dumping, poor conduct at youth sports, fees/charges, and contractor delays.
  • The department oversees approximately $20.7 million in projects funded by SPLOST, CDBG, EPA tire grants, and state grants. A Picture Your Park signage vote runs through October 24.
  • Short-term goals include restructuring, park inventory, and updating the outdated 2008 master plan. Long-term goals include a first all-inclusive playground, environmental education with outdoor classrooms, and a competitive sports complex.
  • Security protocols will be tightened with more officers, clear bags during basketball season, and crackdowns on smoking/drinking. Community park service days begin November 16 at Independence Park.
  • Lakeview Event Center will close December 31 (context: 2024) for renovations; no 2025 reservations are being taken.

Game Changer Nation Report

  • The agenda listed a report from DCOO Landry Merkison/Game Changer Nation, but the transcript shows it was skipped or not presented (Did I miss this? ... We have no questions).

Anthem Self-Funded Medical Renewal for 2025 (HR / Marsh McLennan Agency)

  • HR Director Pam Ambles and Marsh McLennan representative Jack Thompson presented the final piece of the 2025 benefit mix: the Anthem-administered self-funded medical plan with Voya stop-loss insurance.
  • The current specific stop-loss deductible is $175,000 per individual. Through eight months, the loss ratio was 143%, with 11 claimants exceeding the deductible; all of last year had 11 such claimants and a 98% loss ratio.
  • Voya gave the most competitive renewal with no lasers and a 40% rate cap for 2026; Anthem, Granular, and Tokyo Marine quoted with lasers.
  • The consultants recommended raising the specific deductible to $200,000 (peer average is $270,000). If kept at $175,000, the stop-loss premium would rise 40% to $2,766,000; at $200,000, the increase would be about 18.7% to $2,345,000.
  • Anthem administrative fees would increase 3%, from $56.56 to $58.17 per employee per month, for an annual total of $758,000. Wellness funding was increased to $300,000, plus $125,000 from CARELINE.
  • The projected 2025 total cost is $17.4 million, roughly a 6% increase, with a 78/22 county/employee split and county spend of about $13.653 million. Projected pharmacy rebates rise from $1.1 million to $1.569 million.
  • Ms. Ambles said the renewal would be on the next regular business meeting agenda for a vote, and quarterly benefits update presentations would resume in 2025.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken during the work session.
  • Judge Mack will provide a written compensation recommendation for jury-trial bailiffs for future budget consideration.
  • Chief Roberts will reconvene the code enforcement/blight task force within two weeks and will have county attorneys update the 2017 blight ordinance draft.
  • Parks and Recreation will continue with signage voting, park inventory, master plan update planning, and the Lakeview Event Center closure/renovation.
  • The Board will consider the Anthem self-funded renewal, including the $200,000 stop-loss deductible recommendation, at the next regular business meeting.

Meeting Transcript

At the five, we still say, do you still want to deliberate or you want to go home? So it always gives an opportunity to go home. I think they missed something about uh there was something mentioned about a jury being out to midnight and all those type things. Well, that's happened once in my eight years. It happened in my courtroom. Uh the jury got the case at 5 30. Of course, this was the Thursday before Good Friday. And they said, Well, Judge Maggie, can we stay? I said, Well, yeah, we'll check back on you. And they stayed and about seven o'clock, we just checked on them again and said, Look, Judge, tomorrow's good Friday. We ain't going to work. We ain't planning on coming back here tomorrow. So we're going to finish this case. No matter how long it takes, we're gonna stay. And so they stayed, wouldn't leave, and they stayed to 1215, came back with a verdict. But that's the only time that's ever happened uh in the eight years I've been here, and another judge had gone that late. So it's not a routine thing that happens. They always get an opportunity, they decide if they want to stay late. Okay, so I want to make sure that y'all understood that that is not the norm. That was an exception, but anytime it's after five, it's because the jurors themselves said we want to stay late, we want to finish this case because we don't want to come back tomorrow. Okay. Now, with regards to the bailiffs, the uh I think there was something about $15 an hour, uh, I would ask you not to do that. Right now, our bailiffs work part-time. And we got enough of them right now to work part-time. And what we do is the way it's set up right now, they get $80 per diem. And they usually we can make sure they just work 20 hours because it's part-time. And so they get the $80 per diem. So if they're there, say for example, 20 hours, we might get them four hours a day, and so they get $80 per day. Okay, so if you gave them, you better try to give them $15 an hour, it'd be a cut in their pay, and we would lose all of our bailiffs. Okay. Now, I do think when it comes to the grand juror bailiff, uh, they're usually there, I would say probably at least six hours a day. But it's only one day. They're there on a Wednesday, and that's it. The other bailiffs that are there, they're there pretty much 20 hours a week. And the only ones that I am concerned about are the ones who are there for the jury. Like, for example, that one that stayed to midnight, those two had to stay to midnight because the jury was there till midnight. But when we have jury trials, we might need to look at doing something with those bailiffs because they are working as long as we're this. They're not working 20 hours a week. They may work 40 hours that particularly week when we have a jury trial. And we need to come up with some kind of way to compensate them uh because they're working, make it make working 40 hours, 30 to 40 hours rather than 20 hours a week. And what I would recommend uh for those would be like maybe maybe instead of $80 per diem per day, is to give me give them $100, which is $20, you know, extra per day for those jury trials. And so $100 per diem for those who have jury trials, it's only doing jury trials, which are done probably once once a week. I mean, excuse me, once a month normally by each judge. And so we can just compensate those type bailiffs who are working 35 to 40 hours a week when they're doing jury trials, that would be appreciated. But don't give them $15 an hour, just leave it like it is, just figure out a way to compensate those that are working 35 to 40 hours as opposed to 20 hours. So let me clarify something for my own edification. Uh you have jury trial. There's what five in you. Yes. And you each of you have a jury trial.

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