Columbus mayoral candidate John Anker sues city for audit as election approaches
(For an update on this story, go here.)
Columbus mayoral candidate John Anker is suing the Columbus Consolidated Government, saying he was wrongfully denied the findings of an internal audit of the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office and the county jail.
In the lawsuit filed Friday in Muscogee County Superior Court, Anker alleges that the city government did not fulfill his open records request because the audit will be presented before the Columbus Council on May 10.
The city did not claim the audit was exempt from disclosure under open records laws, and the city did not cite any legal authority that would prevent them from giving Anker the records, according to the lawsuit.
Anker also filed emergency paperwork asking a judge to order the release of the audit as soon as possible. The audit, Anker alleges, has particular relevance to the upcoming election as early voting begins May 2.
In an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer, Anker alleged the audit will reflect poorly on the sheriff’s department, but it is not Sheriff Greg Countryman’s fault.
According to the lawsuit, the audit was ordered in September 2020, and Anker alleges it was completed before the end of 2021. Anker blames incumbent Mayor Skip Henderson for the delayed release of the audit.
“They’ve admitted that the report is done, and it exists,” Anker said. “By law, they owe it to me. ...This is not an attack against our sheriff. I believe that Sheriff (Greg) Countryman has not been given swift, fair and good leadership. ...They’ve been stuffing it under the rug.”
Anker filed the open records request with the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office and the mayor’s office for the audit and other records on April 6.
Marcia Smith, a paralegal to the city attorney, responded to Anker’s request in an email on April 11. While the other documents that he requested were provided, the audit was not.
Anker continued to ask for the audit over the next several days, but Smith did not provide him with the report, according to the lawsuit.
“In response to your open records request submitted to the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office and received in this office on April 13, 2022, please be advised that, as previously stated in response to the identical request submitted to Mayor Henderson’s office, the Sheriff‘s Office Internal Audit (including jail) is one of two audits scheduled for presentation to Council on May 10, 2022. A copy of the audit will be available during the presentation,” Smith told Anker.
Anker is the lone challenger seeking to unseat Henderson in May’s mayoral race.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 5:26 PM.