(Featured image above: Carvel Lewis, Chairman of the Georgetown Quitman County Commission)
On Thursday, August 20, the Governor of Georgia, Brain Kemp, by Executive Order, appointed Carvel Lewis, Chairman of the Georgetown Quitman County Commission, to a review commission to determine whether an indictment relates to and adversely affects the administration of the office of Commissioner R.C. Oglesby of Hart County.
Hart County Grand Jury has indicted Hart County Commissioner R. C. Oglesby. The indictment alleges R.C. Oglesby used his influence in the community to operate what authorities say was an organized-crime scheme through their Hartwell-based businesses. He was arrested in early November 2019 and charged under the RICO Act after a months-long investigation by the Hart County Sheriff’s office, Hartwell Police, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and agents with the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office.
R.C. Oglesby, who has been a County Commissioner since 1989, has not been removed from office but has voluntarily stepped down from his duties as commissioner as the case goes through the legal system. Now that he has been indicted, under Georgia law, only Governor Brain Kemp has the authority to suspend Mr. Oglesby from his duties as a County Commissioner.
By this executive order, Governor Brain Kemp, has placed that authority in the hands of Chairman Carvel Lewis, Georgetown-Quitman County Commission, Mr. Doug Duncan, Commissioner of Columbia County and Attorney General Christopher Carr. They will review the case and make a determination if the rights and interests of the public are adversely affected and submit a written report to the Governor within 14 days with a recommendation whether Commissioner R.C. Oglesby should be suspended from office as required by Georgia Law OCGA 45-5-6(e).
If R.C. Oglesby is found innocent, he would be allowed to return to his duties as a County Commissioner. If he is found guilty, he would remain suspended without pay and the Governor would then exercise his authority to remove him permanently from office.