Lawmaker writes bill that affects own private probation firm

A Georgia lawmaker who heads a private probation company is pushing a bill to curtail the power of a state council charged with overseeing his business.

The bill, which passed out of committee Monday afternoon and awaits House passage, comes after an audit by the state County and Municipal Probation Advisory Council took issue over some contracts between the company of Rep. Clay Cox (R-Lilburn) and local courts.

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“There is nothing wrong with me doing this bill,” said Cox, interviewed outside House chambers Tuesday.

Cox said he drafted House Bill 622 to make sure the council can’t interfere with contracts between local courts and companies like his, Professional Probation Services Inc. of Norcross.

Founded in 1991, the state council — with an annual budget of $275,000 — oversees the activities of 37 private providers. Private providers secure contracts with local courts to monitor people put on probation for misdemeanor offenses. In exchange for handling the cases and collecting court-imposed fines, the private companies get to collect monthly supervision fees from probationers.

Cox’s bill would limit the advisory council’s authority to review probation company records or contracts. It would also limit the fine the council could impose on companies, and require companies to pay an annual registration fee of $500.

Cox said his company has no problems with the advisory council, but when pressed, he said that in a routine audit several months ago, “they pointed out some addendum to contracts that they wanted changed.” He said his company was making the changes.

Cox’s bills would take away the advisory council’s authority to void contracts if they find problems.

The council’s staff director, Ashley Garner, declined to comment on the legislation or discuss Cox’s business.

Cox said that he had no motive for the bill beyond regulating an industry that “badly needs to be regulated.” He said he could see how some might see it as a bill tailored for his own business, but “it doesn’t help me in the slightest.”

“I guess I didn’t think it through,” Cox said.

Several times during a conversation with a reporter, Cox asked, “Do you want me to pull the bill?”

Norcross-based Professional Probation Services, with 40-year-old Cox as CEO, is one of the largest private probation companies in the state. It was founded in 1992 by Cox, a former state Department of Corrections probation officer. Today, it manages more than 50,000 misdemeanor probation cases in several states, according to its Web site. Major clients in Georgia include the Gwinnett County court system. In 1997, Cox sold his company to Universal Health Services but retained his title as CEO of the probation subsidiary. Asked if he had talked to his company about the bill, Cox said, “Not really.”

Cox spent much of Monday afternoon arguing for the bill before the State Institutions and Property Committee. It passed in a 5-4 vote, with the tiebreaking vote coming from Chairman Terry Barnard (R-Glennville). Even so, several committee members said they didn’t understand the reason for the bill.

“I’m not sure what we are fixing here,” said Rep. Debbie Buckner (D-Junction City). She left before the final vote.

Cox said no other private probation companies support the bill because “they don’t want to pay the registration fee.”

Companies reached Tuesday said they didn’t know the bill existed until after Cox introduced it.

“I didn’t know anything about it until it dropped,” said Steve Page of Georgia Probation Management.

During Monday’s hearing, Cox appeared satisfied with the work of the state advisory council. “The council does a terrific job,” he said at one point. Yet Cox also recently introduced House Bill 619, which would repeal the council’s existence and transfer some of its functions to the Secretary of State’s Office and allow the Department of Audits to audit probation providers. On Tuesday, Cox said that bill is on hold. He said he drafted that bill in case the council lost funding, so its regulatory functions could be transferred. The wording of the bill, however, calls for the council’s elimination.

Sara Totonchi, public policy director for the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, called Cox’s legislation a conflict of interest.

“It is inappropriate for Representative Cox to pursue legislation that eviscerates the authority of the council that is empowered to regulate the private probation industry,” she said Tuesday.