THANK YOU!
While the outcome is not yet what I’d hoped for, or what is needed, I am not without hope that justice will yet prevail.
I am incredibly proud of our race and want to extend my deepest appreciation to everyone who stood with me, who crossed party lines, and who supported the cause of truth and justice.
I remain deeply concerned about the ongoing issues surrounding Connie Taylor’s administration, including the unresolved GBI investigation and possible prosecution, along with her unwillingness to address the public at any time during the race.
It is inconceivable that justice has not been advanced in the more than two years since we were first notified of serious breaches of public trust. Since then, the office has only continued to decline, creating judicial emergencies and placing citizens at serious risk of harm. Most recently, we learned that the real estate records are now at risk
Moving forward, we cannot give up. This election result is a temporary setback, and we are still in this fight together.
I believe this journey has shown our community’s growing strength, resolve and desire for change. Let’s remain hopeful and united—justice is worth the wait.
I encourage all to remain vigilant and work to make sure the leaders we entrust with our freedoms and property are competent, accountable and worthy of our trust.
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About
Meet Deborah
Deborah L. Dance has devoted over 25 years to serving the citizens of Cobb County with unwavering professionalism, integrity, and dedication. As the former Cobb County Attorney and a former member of the Cobb County Planning Commission, she has demonstrated her commitment to Cobb County. During her 24 years as an attorney with the County Attorney’s Office, she represented the Board of Commissioners and advised all departments of County government, including the Courts, Court Administration, Finance, Human Resources, and the County Manager. Throughout her career, she excelled in transactional negotiations, litigation, analysis, legal advisement, and problem solving. A graduate of the County’s Excel Management program and an alumni of Leadership Cobb and Honorary Commanders, Dance is also a member of the Cobb Bar Association and is admitted to practice in multiple high-profile courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States.
Values, Commitment & Mission
With core values of Integrity, Service, and Respect at the forefront, my mission is to Restore Public Trust, Efficiency, and Accountability through Dedicated, Principled Leadership.
Unfortunately, the Cobb County Clerk of Superior Court’s office is currently grappling with significant challenges that undermine its effectiveness and threaten public trust. Issues of significant filing delays for court documents, high employee turnover, and a GBI investigation highlight the critical need for reform and accountability within the office to restore its integrity and ensure it serves the citizens of Cobb County effectively.
Public Trust
Restore public trust by prioritizing efficiency, accountability, and transparency.
Efficiency
Resolve current backlog of case filings with diligence and integrity, ensuring timely resolutions, upholding the highest standards, and reporting results to the public.
Accountability
Publicly report and account for any fees received for services performed by the office and designate such fees for business purposes only. Specifically in the case of passport fees, I will not accept fees as personal income.
Transparency
Restore public trust by efficiently managing operations, diligently reducing the backlog of case filings, and guaranteeing timely resolutions while maintaining the highest standards and keeping the public informed.
Sustainable Environment
Foster a culture of respect, stability, and growth within the organization, reducing turnover by implementing initiatives focused on professional development, mentorship, fairness, and employee well-being.
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Support Deborah
Your support can make a significant difference. Every financial contribution helps adds to our momentum and brings us closer to a victory that will benefit all of Cobb County. Please join me in this crucial campaign to bring about meaningful change to the Cobb County Clerk of Superior Court’s office. Let’s ensure that our judicial system is as efficient, accountable, and trustworthy as the citizens it serves.
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Deborah needs volunteers to help make calls, share our mission on social media, distribute yard signs, and assist with fundraising efforts. Each of these activities is crucial to spreading the word and garnering support for a more efficient and transparent court clerk’s office. Your involvement can make a real difference. Join us to help bring about the change Cobb County needs.
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Resources
News & Media
MDJ EDITORIAL: Voters should oust Superior Court Clerk
There are times when you want to grab the electorate by the lapels, shake some sense into them and scream, “Are you paying the least bit of attention?”
In this last primary election, some evidently deaf and dumb voters in the Democratic Party nominated incumbent Cobb Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor to seek another four-year term in office.
Four candidates, including Taylor, sought the nomination. It’s often a tall order to win a multi-candidate race. To avoid a runoff, a candidate must get 50% plus one of the votes. Despite a list of transgressions that is as long as some of the waiting lines in her courtrooms, Taylor cruised to the nomination.
The only explanation of this inexplicable occurrence is that incumbency carries enough clout to earn 53% of the vote in a four-way race.
Since riding Cobb’s blue wave into office in 2020, the Superior Court clerk’s office has been mired in scandal and ineptitude.
- Chief Judge Gregory Poole of the Cobb Judicial Circuit earlier this month took the “extraordinary step of declaring a Judicial Emergency with the Superior Court of Cobb County due to serious issues that have arisen in the Superior Court Clerk’s Office within the circuit.”
- While the most recent woes have been linked to the installation of new software, Cobb judges have been expressing frustration with the clerk’s office for some time. In December, Cobb Superior Court Judge Rob Leonard took to social media to alert those with urgent filings to send them directly to his office, rather than through the clerk’s office. “I’m having to hold default judgments and bench warrants, attorneys aren’t getting notices, addresses aren’t getting changed,” Leonard posted.
- Judge Leonard again voiced his fury this week: “50 people out of 260 got notice to appear at my last criminal calendar call …. We can’t issue bench warrants when the clerk of court isn’t fulfilling her obligation to get notices out. This is a public safety issue. It’s a constitutional due process crisis and it’s entirely unacceptable.”
- In 2022, it came to light that Taylor decided her $170,000 per year salary needed to be supplemented. She took roughly $425,000 in supplemental income from passport fees, an action that is astonishingly legal, but gives new meaning to “to the victor go the spoils.”
- Taylor was informed that $83,658 of that money was collected improperly, since it came from expedited shipping fees she is not entitled to. She never returned that income to the county.
- The Georgia Attorney General’s Office is reviewing the findings of a state investigation into Taylor’s office. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation opened the probe after one of Taylor’s employees publicly accused her of ordering her to destroy paperwork related to the passport fees. “We’re just going to Donald Trump this thing,” the employee quoted her as saying.
- For the last several years, sources have told the MDJ the clerk’s office morale is low, turnover is high and positions have gone unfilled. Recently, Cobb County’s communications department told us Taylor’s office has 61 filled full-time positions and 43 vacancies.
And if you thought Clerk Taylor might have some explanation other than greed and incompetence for all this ineptitude, you’d be wrong. She has chosen to work in a vacuum. In trying times, a leader should be out front addressing the issue, answering questions, calming the waters and smoothing ruffled feathers. She’s nowhere to be heard.
Every story published by the MDJ about the clerk’s office over the last two years carried this line: “Taylor did not respond to the MDJ’s request for comment.”
MDJ: FOP Endorses in Court Clerk's Race
The largest Fraternal Order of Police lodge in Georgia, Kermit Sanders Lodge #13, has voted to endorse Republican Deborah Dance for Cobb Superior Court clerk.
The lodge, which covers Cobb, Douglas and Paulding counties, has about 1,300 members.
Cobb Sheriff’s Office Maj. Steve Gaynor, the lodge president, said Dance approached the FOP seeking their endorsement. Both Dance, a retired attorney for the Cobb County government, and Connie Taylor, the embattled Democratic incumbent, were given the opportunity to speak to members, Gaynor said. Dance did so, Taylor did not. Read Full MDJ Article
MDJ Around Town: Court Clerk Challenger on Courthouse Chaos
Deborah Dance, the Republican running against embattled Cobb Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor, made the case for unseating Taylor during a Saturday candidate forum at the Roberts School in Acworth.
Dance pledged to restore order to the clerk’s office if voters choose her over the Democratic incumbent.
Last week, Cobb Superior Court Chief Judge Gregory Poole declared a judicial emergency, suspending deadlines due to ongoing issues in Taylor’s office. Poole said he declared the emergency because of severe dysfunction in Taylor’s office — inaccurate or missing schedules and notices, processing delays and inaccurate documents, to name a few.
Dance was interviewed by Shelley Wynter for his radio show on 95.5 WSB while the audience listened in.
After she outlined Poole’s emergency order, Wynter said he was fascinated to learn the details, as he never knew what a Superior Court clerk did.
Cobb Voice: Meet The Candidates Exclusive Interview: Deborah Dance Cobb County Clerk Of Superior Court- Hosted By Shelley Wynter
Welcome to Meet The Candidates a new special reports interview series from Cobb Voice in partnership with RealPeopleNetwork.org and hosted by Shelley Wynter, star of The Shelley Wynter Show on 95.5 WSB Atlanta’s News & Talk.
In this interview Shelley sits down with Deborah Dance, candidate for Cobb County Clerk of Superior Court.
Cobb Voice: Chief Judge Declares Judicial Emergency Due To Failures by Cobb County Superior Court Clerk’s Office
On Wednesday, August 7, 2024, Cobb County’s Chief Judge A. Gregory Poole of the Cobb Judicial Circuit declared a Notice of Judicial Emergency due to “significant disruptions” in Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor’s office. The notice claims that the disruptions are because of the implementation of a new case management system (CMS) that began in June 2024.
According to a source within a law office that deals with the Cobb County Superior Court regularly, the disruptions in the Superior Court Clerk’s office started long before the integration of a new CMS. Lawyers and clients have seen a more than 60-day delay on court filings out of Cobb County since, at least, December of 2023, when Cobb County Judge Robert D. Leonard II posted the filing backlog on Facebook urging lawyers to file paperwork directly with his office.
ANF: ‘Not doing their job’ | Cobb Court Judicial Emergency Declared
Cobb County’s highest judge issued a scathing order Wednesday declaring a state of judicial emergency over a series of software issues plaguing the Superior Court’s office.
Chief Judge Gregory Poole declared the emergency because of “serious issues” in the Cobb County Superior Court Clerk’s Office. The issues revolve around a broken computer system used to keep track of pending criminal cases.
Poole’s order puts the blame on the Superior Court clerk and a software vender who failed to properly integrate court records into a new system. So far, only felony criminal cases seem to be affected.
Poole found the issues could “impact or have the potential to impact due process and other constitutional rights of litigants,” the county said.
MDJ: Series of Ineptitudes': Clerk Accused of Causing Court Breakdown - July 16, 2024
Cobb Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor’s unexpected switch from the long-used CRIS system to a new database called ICON caused significant disruptions. Court notices weren’t delivered, leading to unprecedented no-shows and days when electronic court filings were impossible. Local attorneys, including Justin O’Dell, were caught off guard, and PeachCourt, the e-filing system, was not informed of the change, exacerbating the issue. Chief Judge Greg Poole noted that this mismanagement will likely cause a backlog of cases.
Taylor’s tenure since 2020 has been marred by controversy, including allegations of mishandling passport fees, ordering record destructions, and failing to address court record backlogs. Despite these issues, she won the recent primary with 53% of the vote. She will face Republican Deborah Dance in the upcoming election.
ANF: Cobb Superior Court clerk under investigation wins primary
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – The clerk of Cobb County’s Superior Court – who is currently under investigation by the Georgia Attorney General’s office – won Tuesday’s Democratic primary.
Connie Taylor defeated bids from Brunessa Elizabeth Drayton, Carole Melton and Nicholas Simpson.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office is reviewing the findings of a Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) probe into Taylor. The GBI opened an investigation into Taylor in late 2022 at the request of a Cobb County Superior Court judge.
The GBI investigation was opened after an employee of the clerk’s office, Maya Curry, alleged Taylor ordered her to destroy records related to Taylor’s retention of passport application fees. In Curry’s words, Taylor commanded her “to Donald Trump this thing.”
11ALIVE: Clerk facing backlash for filing backlog in Cobb County
Some Cobb County community members are calling for Connie Taylor to resign, claiming there is a nearly three-month backlog on online court filings.
ANF: Cobb Superior Court Clerk pocketed over $400,000 in passport processing fees on top of her salary over two years
A controversial law allowing superior court clerks to personally pocket money when processing passports could draw new scrutiny in next year’s General Assembly.
WSB: Metro court clerk accused of ordering employee to delete public files tied to passport fees and collecting $84,000 in shipping fees she said was a mistake
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into a clerk for the Cobb County Superior Court, who is accused of ordering an employee to delete public files related to passport fee expenses.
Connie Taylor has served as the Cobb County Superior Court Clerk for two years. Now she is at the center of a whistleblower complaint.
The complaint sent to the Cobb Board of Commissioners accuses Taylor of ordering her employee to delete passport fee records after the office received an open records request.
According to the complaint, Taylor said she wasn’t obligated to provide the information because the passport fee money belonged to her and stated that they would get rid of records responsive to the request and said, “We are just going to Donald Trump this thing.”
Taylor is accused of collecting $84,000 in passport shipping fees that she said was a mistake due to a system error. Taylor offered to refund the money back to the county but has yet to do so.
ANF: Court clerk allegedly told worker to destroy passport fee documentation referenced in open records request
The GBI opened an investigation into Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor in late 2022 at the request of a Cobb County Superior Court judge.
Endorsements
