ALBANY — A spokesman for Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker says that his office is aware of the ongoing controversy with the Dougherty County School Board and that the office will take "appropriate action," moving forward.

As first reported on albanyherald.com, Dougherty District Attorney Greg Edwards has sent a letter to Baker requesting an investigation into allegations that the school board violated the Georgia Open Records Act by withholding the names of two additional finalists in their superintendent search.

The letter, obtained by The Albany Herald and published on the Herald Web site, asks the attorney general's office to "investigate whether the Dougherty County School Board and its members potentially violated the Open Records Act...during the board's proceedings to select candidates and hire a new school superintendent."

Russ Williard, spokesperson for Baker, said that the attorney general had spoken with Edwards and listened to his concerns. Since the official letter was mailed Friday, they won't receive it until Monday.

"As far as Mr. Edwards recusal," Willard said. "We are aware and will take appropriate action."

The board voted this week for the second time to continue a hiring process during which they revealed only one finalist, Albany State University Athletic Director, Chief of Staff and Executive to the President, Joshua Murfree, despite evidence that other finalists had been considered.

Thursday, the Albany Herald, WALB-TV and WFXL-TV filed suit against the Dougherty County School Board and were granted a restraining order that will keep the board from officially hiring a superintendent until a March 1 hearing.

Murfree has not commented publicly about the hiring process to any of the three media outlets, but did give a quote to a local weekly newspaper circulated predominately in the African-American
community.

"It's not a fight about race, color, creed, or nationality. It's a fight for education," he's quoted as saying. "It's a fight for every child who wakes up in the morning who doesn't have food on the table, heat in their homes, decent eye glasses, and those who do not know where there (sic) next meal will come from."

The article goes on to quote two anonymous sources contending to be Murfree's former students who gave positive statements in support of Murfree.

Edwards said the lawsuit and the public outcry following the vote that
prompted the letter.

"After hearing some statements made by those in the community and
looking at the events of the past few days, I felt it was the responsibility of this office request that the attorney general take a look at the situation," Edwards said. "If anything, maybe it will clear the air."

The penalty for violating the Open Records Act is a $100 fine.

Edwards said that the law provides that the attorney general's office can pursue criminal or civil penalties if it determines a law has been broken.

The Dougherty County School System has 30 days to respond to the complaint filed by the media companies. Thursday, Superior Court Judge Denise Marshall restrained the board from continuing the hiring process until a March 1 hearing.

DCSS Attorney Tommy Coleman said the board is in receipt of the complaint filed by the media agencies, but that if the process moves forward he would have to recuse himself because of his statements to the board.

"If there ends up being a hearing on the matter then I will likely have to step back and not participate," Coleman said.

On Feb. 1, Coleman penned a letter to the board advising them of his
legal opinion that there was sufficient evidence to suggest that they may have broken the Georgia Open Records Law and that the board should take immediate action to reverse course and rectify the situation.
Its because of that letter that Coleman, who essentially told the board they had broken the law, can not defend them in court. The board would likely have to move forward with another attorney.

Williard wrote The Herald an e-mail Thursday saying that no complaints had been filed against the school board. Friday, the Dougherty County Taxpayer's Association provided a letter they said was sent to Baker's office requesting an investigation as well.

In that letter, Chairman Richard Thomas writes that the group had "initiated the proper steps to begin a recall," of the four board members who voted to continue the process with Murfree as the lone finalist — James Bush, Milton Griffin, Anita Williams-Brown and Velvet Riggins. However no recall documentation has been filed with the Dougherty County Elections office.