Chattooga County Probate Judge Jon Payne’s attorney responded to an ordinance that was passed by Commissioner Jason Winters last week.

Payne’s attorney, Albert Palmour, sent the response to Commissioner Winters on Thursday of this week saying Winters’ resolution “is a continuation of your political agenda.” The letter blasts the commissioner for the wording of the ordinance.

Judge Payne told AM 1180 that the ordinance limiting his fees for vital records in Chattooga County to $7,500 a yearly will be complied with, along with the necessary reports required by the new ordinance.

What is in contention is reports that Winters says Payne should have filed prior to October 20 of this year.  Judge Payne says that he has reported the fees he collected as vital records custodian to the county auditor for over 50 years, but the commissioner either failed to notice or didn’t make an issue of the fees until this year.

The letter states that prior to Winters’ resolution, there is no requirement for Payne to supply additional reports.  Palmour argued, “There is no requirement (under Georgia code) for Judge Payne to provide any reports, records or accounting.  In fact, the auditor actually has these records, reports and accounting, which led to the adoption of your Resolution.”

At issue is thousands of dollars that Commissioner Winters wants to go to the county coffers, but Georgia law says that without a local ordinance, the vital records custodian retains those fees himself.

In fact, Judge Payne says that probate judges across the state have collected the fees for decades and that when other counties tried to recoup the money by taking probate judges to court, they have lost because the law says that the vital records custodian keeps the collection fees unless their is a local ordinance capping the amount they can keep.

Winters is now in his third term as commissioner but has not raised the issue until this year.

Judge Payne says that he will comply with the ordinance but contends that Commissioner Winters’ wording in the resolution was politically motivated.

Here is the letter sent to Commissioner Winters: