A veteran lawman was cleared to continue his bid for Clayton County sheriff Tuesday when county elections officials were deadlocked after a hearing over whether he lived in the county.
The Board of Elections' 2-2 vote essentially meant a "no-action," enabling Clarence Cox to continue his candidacy. The vote came after a three-and-half hour hearing Tuesday. The session centered on whether the 53-year-old former head of security for Clayton County schools actually lived in the county and if he was eligible to vote and run for office.
“I’m elated. God saw me through,” Cox said after the meeting. He also expressed concern that “I had to have my personal life drug through the mud. This is a witch hunt.”
The issue emerged after Clayton resident Stan Byars questioned Cox’s residency and candidacy, setting in motion an investigation that was done through the sheriff’s office after Byars took his concern to the sheriff.
Capt. Kelly Clair, an investigator with the Sheriff’s Office, was assigned to look into the matter. His investigation uncovered numerous documents, including a lease on a Fulton County apartment that included Cox’s name. Cox said the apartment was for the convenience of his wife who works out of state but needs something close to the airport for her regular travels to Georgia. Cox said he did not live at the apartment but he put his name on the lease so there would be a local contact person.
Cox told the board he has lived in Clayton for more than 30 years.
The challenge filed by Byars said Cox had lived in Fulton County until recently but used his ex-wife’s Clayton address to vote in elections. It also claimed that he has only lived in the county since January. A candidate for sheriff must have lived in the county for at least two years in order to run.
During the hearing, Byars was asked by Cox’s attorney if he had been urged by Sheriff Victor Hill to challenge Cox’s residency.
“My challenge is as a concerned citizen,” Byars responded.
Byars hurriedly left after the meeting and would not answer an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter’s questions on whether he was the same person who had his residency challenged in 2009 when he ran for Riverdale city council. It was later determined that Byars, who ran unsuccessfully, met the qualifications to run for office.
During Tuesday’s hearing, elections board member Pat Pullar’s standing on the panel was questioned by Cox’s attorney LaTonya Wiley who said that Pullar would not be objective. Wiley claimed Pullar’s quotes in previous AJC stories appeared to show her as a supporter of Hill and that Pullar would be biased against someone who was running against the sheriff.
Pullar denied that assessment but nonetheless abstained from voting.
It's been a tough month for Cox who was fired from his job as head of security for the county school district a couple of weeks ago. Neither Cox nor school district officials would comment about the details of his termination.
Cox had been with the school system since July 2013 when the district established its own police department.
Cox is one of five people running for sheriff in the May 24 primaries, including Chris Pogers, Dwayne Fabian, Satira Walker and Hill.
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