Post by Master-9 on Jun 29, 2004 22:31:14 GMT -5
Posted on Tue, Jun. 29, 2004
Putnam sheriff to seek third term
By Gary Tanner
Telegraph Staff Writer
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills qualified Monday as an independent to run for a third term.
Unless another independent candidate qualifies by noon on Friday, Sills will be unopposed for re-election.
"All I'd have to do is live," he said. "And get one vote."
George Jackson, who qualified to run as a Democrat in April was disqualified in May when Eatonton lawyer Frank Ford challenged his candidacy based on a past theft conviction.
Jackson did not appeal the disqualification by a bipartisan hearing board.
A challenge to Sills' candidacy was heard by that board at the same time as the challenge to Jackson, but it was dismissed because he had not yet qualified.
At the time, Robbie Hibner of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a Putnam-based religious sect, challenged Sills' qualifications, accusing him of attacking and injuring Sills' ex-wife, a charge the sheriff denies. She also said in her complaint that Sills had harassed her and defamed Nuwaubians.
Hibner said she would again appeal Sills' candidacy when he did qualify, but had not as of Monday afternoon.
Sills launched an investigation that led to federal and state child molestation charges against Nuwaubian leader Malachi York, who was sentenced in April to 135 years in federal prison after being convicted in January of child molestation and racketeering. York still awaits sentencing on 77 state counts of child molestation, aggravated child molestation and exploitation of children.
Sills is seeking his third term as sheriff. He has previously run as a Democrat and says he believes sheriffs' duties are not political and their elections should be nonpartisan.
Terry Norris, executive vice president of the Georgia Sheriffs' Association, said his organization has supported that view for at least a decade.
Attempts to change sheriffs' elections so that they are nonpartisan have been unsuccessful.
"Sheriff's races bring out voters," Norris said. "Legislators like the increased participation because of sheriffs' races in those primaries."
Putnam sheriff to seek third term
By Gary Tanner
Telegraph Staff Writer
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills qualified Monday as an independent to run for a third term.
Unless another independent candidate qualifies by noon on Friday, Sills will be unopposed for re-election.
"All I'd have to do is live," he said. "And get one vote."
George Jackson, who qualified to run as a Democrat in April was disqualified in May when Eatonton lawyer Frank Ford challenged his candidacy based on a past theft conviction.
Jackson did not appeal the disqualification by a bipartisan hearing board.
A challenge to Sills' candidacy was heard by that board at the same time as the challenge to Jackson, but it was dismissed because he had not yet qualified.
At the time, Robbie Hibner of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a Putnam-based religious sect, challenged Sills' qualifications, accusing him of attacking and injuring Sills' ex-wife, a charge the sheriff denies. She also said in her complaint that Sills had harassed her and defamed Nuwaubians.
Hibner said she would again appeal Sills' candidacy when he did qualify, but had not as of Monday afternoon.
Sills launched an investigation that led to federal and state child molestation charges against Nuwaubian leader Malachi York, who was sentenced in April to 135 years in federal prison after being convicted in January of child molestation and racketeering. York still awaits sentencing on 77 state counts of child molestation, aggravated child molestation and exploitation of children.
Sills is seeking his third term as sheriff. He has previously run as a Democrat and says he believes sheriffs' duties are not political and their elections should be nonpartisan.
Terry Norris, executive vice president of the Georgia Sheriffs' Association, said his organization has supported that view for at least a decade.
Attempts to change sheriffs' elections so that they are nonpartisan have been unsuccessful.
"Sheriff's races bring out voters," Norris said. "Legislators like the increased participation because of sheriffs' races in those primaries."
