As expected, an out-of-county

judge will rule over the lawsuit between the Fayette County Commission

and Sheriff Randall Johnson over the housing of prisoners arrested by

the county-commission-supervised marshal's department.

All four of Fayette's

Superior Court judges have recused themselves from the suit filed by the

county, which alleges Johnson is improperly turning away prisoners arrested

of the commissioners.

Chief Judge Paschal A. English

Jr. and Judges Johnnie L. Caldwell Jr., Christopher C. Edwards and Tommy

R. Hankinson signed a joint recusal order dated Dec. 30.

Senior Superior Court Judge

William Isom has agreed to hear the case, with a hearing slated for Tuesday,

Jan. 20. Isom is the former chief judge of the neighboring Clayton Judicial

Circuit.

The commission is petitioning

the court for a temporary injunction and permanent order to force Johnson

to accept prisoners arrested by marshals. The county is also seeking a

mandamus, which orders a public agency or government body to perform an

act required by law which it has previously neglected or refused to do.

Johnson, who operates the jail

as part of the sheriff's department, contends the marshal's

office is not a legal law enforcement agency and accepting prisoners into

the jail whom are arrested by marshals could expose himself and the county

to a "tremendous liability."

County officials argue that

the marshal's office is a full-fledged law enforcement agency. The

marshals, who are state-certified police officers, patrol county-owned

property for security purposes but occasionally they make traffic stops

if they witness a violation that could indicate a motorist is endangering

others, officials have said.

Johnson contends the marshal's

office cannot operate as a county police department because the county

did not seek voter approval through a referendum required by Georgia law.

County officials contend that the marshal's department became a law

enforcement agency before that law went into effect.

In August, Sheriff Johnson

warned the commission that he would no longer accept prisoners from the

marshal's office at the jail based on the liability concerns. Since

then, the jail accepted two prisoners from the marshal's office,

but both of those were on charges from other law enforcement agencies.

A marshal brought a prisoner

to the jail Dec. 21 on DUI and other traffic charges, but that prisoner

was refused by jail officials.

According to the suit, the

only reason a prisoner arrested on an indictable offense can be denied

housing by a jailer is if the prisoner "has not received medical

treatment for obvious physical injuries or conditions of an emergency

nature."

Failure to accept a prisoner

when warranted could lead to a misdemeanor charge with a fine of up to

$1,000, the suit indicated.